#of course this is not to say people with (seemingly) one-sided crushes on their friends are bad

[nikalibres]

Aside from the fact that it was given at the most inappropriate time (real hollywood style), the confession scene in dbd is so heartwarming.

I'm usually not a big fan of friends to lovers romances if it's revealed that one of the people was in love with the other one for ages until they gathered the courage to confess. It makes the friendship a bit deceitful, when for a long time only one person knows that there is something more there than friendship.

But I don't believe that's the case with Edwin. My man was repressed and suddenly sent on a journey of self-discovery whether he liked it or not. Maybe he had some thoughts before, but I feel like Crystal appearing in their life was actually the trigger that made him think "Wait, I'm not sure I like sharing Charles." And then, well, it all snowballed.

Yet almost as soon as he realised that he did like like Charles, he just had to tell him this, he could not hide it, because yes he loves him but they're friends first so he would never knowingly hide anything from him.

And don't get me started at how wholesome and relieving Charles's reaction was. Their friendship is so precious, whether something comes out of it or not, it's beautiful.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Top 15 Maiko moments

Since I made a Kataang list, and I think it's only fair I do it for Maiko too.

#15 - Casually leaning against each other during a meal (03x05)

I'm starting off the list with the neverending trend that is "Maiko being unbelievably clingy."

I just can't deal witht he fact that these two both have demonstrated some difficulty/discomfort when other people get too touchy with them - yet you leave them in a room together and these motherfuckers suddenly think they're siamese twins.

They're not even trying to be romantic, they just... naturally gravitated towards each other and stayed in that position because it's what feels familiar and comfortable for them.

I remind you guys that The Beach is the episode in which they are at the most incompatible, yet even that episode is visually showing us "These dumbasses are so in love they just naturally act like a couple without even meaning to."

#14 - "It'll be nice to Zuko again. Won't it, Mai?" & Baby Mai's crush on Baby Zuko (02x03 & 02x07)

I know, I know, I'm cheating with this one because they are two separete moments from two different episodes, but SUE ME, I couldn't pick a favorite between them, and I also didn't want to remove the previous moment from the list, and "Top 16" just doesn't doesn't feel right.

I just love the way Mai is acting all shy whenever she so much as looks at Zuko in "Zuko Alone", how she clearly WANTS to hang out with him but doesn't really know how to start a conversation with him and feels all awkward.

And then years later, in the middle of a mission, she's just... happy that she might see him again, even if it's not in the most ideal situation. It's cute and I love it when Mai is happy and showing some of the emotions that hide behind her apathy for seemingly everything and everyone.

#13 - Grumpy dumbasses at the party (03x05)

On this one, those two just skipped several years ahead and went straight to "Bickering like a couple that has been married for fourty years, are clearly about to fight, yet refuse to get any space because WHY would they want to be away from each other? What a strange notion!"

Seriously, I lost count of how many times my grandparents had that exact same conversation when they're feeling the need to be difficult, and that scene made me have the same reaction I always have during these moments:

They're annoyed at each other, yet they just... refuse to not to be near each other. And Mai's first instinct when she wants something is to tell Zuko to go get it for her, and he does because, once again, they just have no freaking clue how NOT to be a couple (and it took what, fifteen minutes for her to go check on him after their fight because she just doesn't know what the fuck she has to stay for if he's not around? That's a marriage if I've ever seen one).

Also Zuko's line of "That food was for my cranky girlfriend!" makes me laugh every time and it's actually so cute that he wants to spoil his girl even when they're both in a terrible mood.

#12 - First date/kiss (The Lost Adventures Comic)

This moment is just SO. FREAKING. ADORABLE.

The way we see a bit more of Mai's prankester side (girl was friends with Azula and Ty Lee for a reason) and how Zuko can't help but find it endearing, the way they blush and act all unsure of themselves after he touched her shoulder, how Zuko can't even look at her when he admits that he likes seeing her happy and enjoying herself, Mai basically admiting that for a while she did the equivalent of "Little boy pulling at a girl's hair because he likes her and can't deal with it", and then, of course, the kiss. It's all just great.

And I gotta love how this date only happened because Azula set it up because Zuko was acting all angsty and saying he wouldn't go back to the Fire Nation - so she reminds him that something, or rather someone, he REALLY wants wasn't going to be around much longer, and that boy just doesn't hesitate to take the bait.

Also Azula and Ty Lee were HILARIOUS while spying on them, and the irony that Azula is basically playing 3D chess with her brother's love life for her own benefit, only to then accidentally shoot herself in the foot by the events she set in motion is just too good.

I really wish we could have seen this in a flashback during the actual show. It's just not fair that this little gem is hidden away in a comic.

#11 - Mai covering Zuko's eyes (03x05)

Yet another silly, very quick moment that I'm likely the only one obsessing over, but I can't help it, I live for stuff like that. Zuko is on full rage mode for being on the island at all and thus Mai is getting very grumpy and annoyed at him... yet the second they witness the gross sight of Li and Lo in bathing suits, she just covers her boyfriend's eyes to spare him of the horror that is old people who ran out of fucks to give (and that is totally not their own fate when they're Li and Lo's age).

The inherent cuteness of their relationship seeping into every scene, even when they are not on their best moment, is just one of the things I love the most about this ship. If they're not "meant for each other" like some dumbasses insist, then how come they're so married?

Plus it was really funny, and I like it when things are funny. The more it makes me giggle, the higher it goes on the list XD

#10 - First on-screen kiss (03x01)

This moment had me SHOCKED the first time I watched the show. I already thought Mai's crush on Zuko was cute, and I knew the series could make them a couple eventually - but I did not expect them to get together in between seasons. 7-year-old me was like "WAIT, THAT'S ALLOWED?"

Also, I've always loved how that moment started. Zuko is staring dramatically into the horizon, being angsty and walking right into an existential crisis - and Mai just goes "No, we're not doing that." It's just so fucking funny.

And it's also the first exemple of these two being completely unable to keep their hands to themselves. Mai just hugs him, touches his scar, and kisses him, and Zuko, who had trouble even hugging Iroh back, just... lets her. Because he doesn't mind it one bit when she does it.

I just really like how Mai's default way of comforting Zuko is by offering physical affection. It's freaking adorable. Also their "first" kiss happening in a gloomy day, with dark clouds everywhere, yet they're off in their own little world, just happy to be in each other's arms, is "Maiko in a nutshell." Add in some emo music and it becomes the most mid 2000s AMV ever.

#09 - "I'm sorry, Mai" (03x10)

This scene is one that just drives me up the wall with how much I love it. It's such a short little moment, but it's so significant to their relationship. Zuko wants to continue enjoying the life he has at the Fire Nation. He wants all the comfort that comes with being a prince, the approval of his father, the security of knowing he'll always have roof over his head and will one day be Fire Lord - and wants to stay and be with his girlfriend because he LOVES her.

But he can't. Because he knows innocent people will suffer and die if he doesn't stop his father. So he has to leave behind everything he holds dear, including Mai. He can't even say goodbye in person, both because it hurts and because what if something goes wrong and he ends up captured? He can't risk it.

So he leaves her a letter and says aloud an honest apology that he knows she can't hear, because he just HAS to say that he never wanted this.

More importantly though:

That boy heard Azula's mocking comment in "The Avatar And The Fire Lord" and decided "You know what, maybe I should go see the royal painter and bring Mai along so we can have a portrait of us as a couple."

I just love them so much.

#08 - Confrontation at the Boiling Rock (03x15)

This is a BIG one. Mai is obviously pissed at him because of the way he broke up with her, and she cannot understand why the hell ZUKO, someone who has always been so deeply patriotic and a very proud prince is suddenly leaving everything behind to go help out a bunch of traitors.

Zuko stands his ground, and tries to make her understand - and then out of nowhere he just HAS to brag about how awesome she is when a guard offers to protect her. He simply not hesitate to basically say "Oh yeah, she could totally give me a hard time during a fight, ain't that great?" (Also the fact that the show never gave us a moment of them throwing knives together even though Zuko has a knife too is a CRIME).

But, of course, real life has to "ruin" the moment. Zuko sees an oportunity to go help his friends, and escapes the cell, locks the door - and then they just stare into each other's eyes, for what they know might be the last time.

Mai's confusion and rage. Zuko's resolve to do what's right no matter the cost. Just that certainty that, whatever they both decide to do now, it will be final. There's no turning back from this. If their relationship ends that day, it ends FOREVER.

It literally lasts just a few seconds, but it's intense and does such an amazing job of allowing the characters to communicate with each other, and the audience, on what they're feeling.

And it's also the perfect set up for:

#07 - "I love Zuko more than I fear you" (03x15)

Literally NO ONE saw this coming, not even Mai herself, and if you tell me you did I'm gonna call you a liar, because OH MY FUCKING GOD!

Everything went wrong, the good guys are about to get captured, the situation is hopeless... and then in comes Mai, risking it all and taking a huge leap of faith.

She doesn't fully get why Zuko is so sure joining the Avatar will be good for their nation. She doesn't know if that will work out like he hopes. But she trusts him, and allows him to go for it, because she knows HIM, knows all the pain he went through trying to be Ozai's perfect son, and if he wants to throw his "perfect" life away just to be the one actually in charge of it, goddammit, she's on board and will do the same.

She knows there's no way she escapes that place with Zuko, it's too late for that. But she can allow HIM to leave "safely", while she stays behind and faces Azula's wrath - and she doesn't care, because she knows there's NOTHING Azula can do to her that would ever hurt as much as living with the knowledge that she just stood by and watched the downfall of the person she loved the most, that she chose to submit to Azula yet again instead of being her own damn self at long last.

It's the proof of Mai's devotion for Zuko, the moment in which her life became her own again, it's one hell of a plot-twist, and leads to yet ANOTHER epic moment of characters staring at each other with daggers in their eyes (and hands), and it's fucking beautiful!

#06 - Fight and reconciliation by the fire (03x05)

I can't lie, I'm a sucker for characters hitting their breaking point, confronting each other, letting all their rage and pain out - and then one puts everything aside to show some vulnerability and care for the other.

Zuko has not been feeling great about himself, and is taking it out on his girlfriend. Mai is not perfect either, and can't see that even Zuko's more "clueless" actions like giving her a sea-shell that she obviously wouldn't like is just him genuinely trying to be nice to her despite his impulse to act like a jerk, because he CARES.

Zuko is feeling insecure, wants reassurance, but Mai doesn't notice, and so he starts feeling threatened by a guy she full on says might as well not exist in her eyes. It's bad, but it's yet more proof that he CARES.

She goes after him after their fight, they open up a bit, Mai reminds Zuko that his sad life doesn't excuse the way he's been acting and when she stands up for herself against AZULA it just makes Zuko go instant simp mode and try to act all smooth and pull her close with that "I like it when you express yourself" (I can never get over that - boy, I know you're a teenager on vacation with your hot girlfriend that looks so cute when she's mad, you two are not alone yet, keep it in your pants!)

And then it happens. Zuko just loses it, can't deny that he is feeling like he is betraying himself because he no longer knows right from wrong and that is freaking him out because, even when he is firmly on the wrong side, he had ALWAYS been sure of his convictions and what he stands for, but now everything is messy and he doesn't know what he should care for.

Cue Mai deciding to forgive him for his angry outburts, for the unfair accusations, for the general unpleasant atitute, and just give him a bit of the support she now sees he had been needing and wasn't getting. A simple, straight-forward "I care about you", and a kiss - which Zuko eagerly accepts, and he IMMEDIATELY just keeps holding her close, all the fighting forgotten because he still has one source of stability in his life, one person he can rely on to be by his side when he doesn't know what he is doing.

05 - Cuddles and dessert (03x09)

This is the point where it became borderline impossible for me to pick my favorites, and I'll probably regret the order a million times, but I gotta post this already.

I love this scene. I just genuinely adore it with all my heart. Them looking at each other all cute, smiling and unable to keep their hands to themselves, and Zuko just once again showing that he like spoiling his girl by asking a servent to bring something FOR THE LADY. Name literally one other character that has Zuko acting like that - YOU CAN'T! NOT EVEN WHEN HE WENT ON A CUTE DATE WITH SOMEONE ELSE!

The whole vibe is just so domestic and cosy. Literally the only thing that is missing is a cat purring next to them and it'd be my idea of heaven.

#04 - Supportive Mai (03x09)

Nightmares and daydreams really is THE Maiko episode. The fact Zuko goes to Mai's house for comfort and distraction when the meeting he thinks he's been excluded from is happening says a lot about how much she means to him (and for once her parents not being around is a good thing 👀), and then later he opens up to her about what bothered him about being Ozai's perfect son because he trusts her to be there for him. They've truly done some amazing progress after The Beach.

Mai's concern for him is just genuinely touching. Even when she doesn't know exactly what to say or do, she's still trying so hard because she doesn't like seeing Zuko truly down, and that is what made her his safe-space this entire episode.

#03 - "That gloomy girl that sighs a lot?" (03x14)

Look at that boy. LOOK. AT. THAT. BOY.

He is just so smitten and clearly missing her. He LIKES the traits that the fandom insist makes her "unlikeable", that led to characters making fun of her in universe, the coping mechanism she used to protect herself from being hurt by people like her parents - can't get hurt if you don't care.

And Zuko doesn't see it as something she needs to change in herself, something undesirable, something he puts up with. He likes what everyone insists is a flaw of hers, and will so even when being teased about it because he can relate to being moody and angsty and cranky and wouldn't judge her for it because she's the person that consistently likes that about him too.

#02 - "You're so beautiful when you hate the world" (03x02)

This was the moment that made them one of my favorite Avatar ships. These two just not giving a fuck if that they're being embarrassing and cringy and just judging the whole world together and being disgusted by everything except each other. Not only is it a funny, wholesome moment, it is THE most accurate portrayal of a teen romance I've ever seen in my life. Just two dumbasses being in love and saying whatever nonsense they want, and kind of relating to each other for it.

Also them just basically telling Azula to fuck off because they wanna keeping making out was amazing.

01 - Reunited at the end (03x21)

Once again. Look at that boy. Just you LOOK. AT. THAT. BOY.

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

They're so cute. They're so happy. It's literally what their entire romantic arc in season three had been building up to and I'm forever greateful that the writers didn't rob us, and them, of it just because the fandom can't appreciate a good thing even as it stares them right in the face.

They're both finally on the same page, ready to support each other no matter what, with nothing and no one standing on their way, and allowing themselves to just enjoy their love. It's what they deserve.

[piratefishmama]

Forgiven Not Forgotten | Part 1

Steve wished he could say that that particular moment in his life hadn’t irreparably changed it, worsened it, he wished he could say that who he was, the whole of him, that part of him he now buried deep, deep down, that burying it didn’t cause problems.

Of course, it did. The chain reaction of it caused more problems than anyone could have ever expected. He wasn’t the same after that day.

Nothing in his life was the same after that day.

His mother tried, gods she tried so very hard to get him to open up, to try and get him to talk about what had upset him so much but… it was wrong. It was gross. He was gross.

His parents had always been clean and tidy, always priding themselves on their appearances, he couldn’t be seen being gross why… why did they let him just… keep doing that? Why would they let him keep making them look bad?

Why would they let him make himself look bad?

They should have known it was wrong, right? They should have known it was bad! They should have… they should have told him, but… they didn’t. They set him up for heartbreak, for humiliation, for pain, and he hated them for it.

He pulled away from his parents. And they, baffled as to why, were unable to keep him from withdrawing, were left with a mere shell of the bright little star-kissed boy they’d brought into the world.

Talking to him became difficult, he didn’t talk about his crushes anymore, he didn’t talk about anything to them anymore.

His new friends, Tommy, and Carol, they were… an interesting pair, but… their little boy had friends, so the Harringtons tolerated them, even when they convinced their little boy to go after the sports teams,  to sign up for basketball try-outs and swim team, even when Steve came home with a spot on both, seemingly proud of himself.

Lynda Harrington could see that something was missing. A bright spark, an ember that’d been slowly building, that’d been slowly growing larger and larger as he grew until she’d hoped it’d become a sun had been snuffed out by things unknown. Her baby wouldn’t speak to her like he used to, wouldn’t wear his cute little chef apron, or do ‘girl stuff’ like play dress up or help his mama with her makeup anymore, it was like, overnight, their son had been replaced with an imposter.

John Harrington hated it the most though. Struggled to keep himself in the house, made excuses to stay at work, unable to handle the fact that he could see his son reshaping himself into something he’d never been before, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

He hated the sports teams, although the men who worked for him often congratulated him on having a star athlete for a son. He hated the people that came with them, the people his son claimed to be friends with, they were awful children, who grew into awful teenagers, the majority bullies, those bad influences gradually influencing their son into something his friends dubbed King Steve. A boy he and his wife no longer recognised.

A boy who threw parties at the house while his parents weren’t home, forced away on business trips they couldn’t get out of and couldn’t take him along with thanks to school, allowing them to come home to precious possessions smashed, beer cans littered around the house, around the pool, the stank of marijuana clinging to their soft furnishings.

His own wife now questioned their marriage, his faithfulness, all because she’d found a bra in their bedroom that didn’t belong to her, spoke to her friends about it before confronting him. All John could assume was that one of Steve’s little parties had included teens getting up to no good in the bedrooms.

Safe to say the entire closet of bed linens had been burned, new were bought immediately, and cameras were installed around the house. Lynda still didn’t trust him.

And then work picked up. John Harrington’s firm went global, their money increased tenfold, but so did the workload, and with Lynda no longer trusting him, she was always by his side, watching, waiting for a sign, any kind of hint, a scrap of infidelity to prove it to herself… John hadn’t ever so much as looked at another woman, how could he? He’d married his high school sweetheart and even through her paranoia, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

It meant Steve was alone more often as he grew older, but… John couldn’t spend too much time around his son anymore anyway, he wished he could. He wished he could sit his boy down, wished he could wrap him in his arms and tell him it was going to be okay, that whatever it was that’d done that damage so long ago, they’d face it, they’d deal with it, and they’d put it behind them.

It was too late. His son had grown up. His bright star of a little boy was gone and neither he, nor his wife, could get an answer out of him as to why. John never claimed that to be good parenting either, avoiding the problem, he knew he was taking the cowards way out, it ate at him more than he ever allowed show. That didn’t help their home life.

And then a young woman disappeared from their pool. The cameras around the house picked up nothing, the image flickering with static, showing the poor girl there one moment, then gone the next, no sign of where she’d gone between the brief flicker of static. The government had shown up and confiscated the tapes before the police could come by. Not that the police knew about the cameras.

They weren’t exactly obvious.

And Steve, for the first time in his life, came home with a girlfriend. And a face full of injuries. But a girlfriend! Something steady, something stable, with someone from a respectable family, someone with brains, someone with a good head on her shoulders, something that spontaneously combusted about a year later.

Disappointing, but the face full of injuries was more important. Even if Steve wouldn’t tell them about it.

Steve dropped the swimming team.

Then came Steve’s spectacularly bad grades in school leaving him graduating but going nowhere fast in terms of college. Then came John Harrington putting his foot down, demanding Steve get a job, he’d even grabbed a ‘We’re Hiring’ flyer from the new mall after he and Lynda had gone shopping the day before.

Then the mall fire. More bruises, this time scars. The nightmares that woke their son up, and them, in the middle of the night with his screaming that he’d never explain. This time eye doctors, otolaryngologists, their boy suffered a ruptured eardrum the doctor claimed would likely get worse with time, that he’d eventually need hearing aids, another concussion, he couldn’t get his son to explain where the blunt force trauma had come from, but John swore never to force his son into work again.

Steve still grabbed a new job with his new friend Robin at the local Family Video store. A glimmer of that ember they’d thought had died out, peeking through the cracks in the walls Steve had long since put up.

The Harringtons had been proud, for the first time in so very long, they’d been proud. Thrilled. They’d spent much longer in Hawkins after that, attempting to build bridges that’d long since been destroyed, before they’d had to go again, “There’s utter chaos in the London branch, Steve, we’ll send you money for groceries every week and don’t forget to water the plants! We should be home by the end of the month okay?”

Then came the serial killer.

The Earthquake.

Then, the phone call.

“Mom, just… just stay out of Hawkins okay, just… just stay on your business trip with dad, alright?” The line was crackly at best, Lynda on the phone from their hotel room in London, John close by, listening as best he could.

“Sweetheart we saw on the news, that girl, the Earthqua—”

“Yeah, yeah mom, it’s… it’s bad here, look just stay there. Wherever you are right now, just stay there until I call again, alright? Just don’t come home. I’ll stay in touch as best I can okay? Just sta—”

“Steve? Steve?! Steve!!” Lynda pulled the phone away from her ear, the steady beep of a call disconnected going off from the speaker. Her panicked gaze turning from the handset to her husband “John!”

“Give me the phone, I’m getting us home.”

He wasn’t able to get them home. Not all the way. Hawkins was locked down solid. They got as close as six miles away, holed up in a motel close enough to see the plumes of black, billowing up into the skies above filled with angry red lights flashing intermittently like lightning, as if a volcano had erupted and the pyroclastic flow just wouldn’t stop, helicopters circled the town daily but reports never made it out of the little town.

They heard nothing for weeks, for months. There was no news on Hawkins anywhere on the channels, it was as though the place had vanished from the face of the Earth despite constant surveillance, but they watched from a hill high enough to see the town in the distance.

They watched it every single day, a radio on, the TV on, waiting for news, waiting for something, anything. Months turned into a year, in that time the Harringtons moved their things from the motel into a town a few miles further south, renting a modest two bed there, watching the smoke, waiting for a call, for anything to say their son was okay.

Anything to say that he was alive.

A year turned into two. Arguments led to tears, led to apologies, led to promises that if, if he were alive in there, they’d try harder, they’d figure it out. They’d get their little boy back, the one that loved freely, openly, the one that talked to them, the one that played house, played dress up with his mom, who cooked with his little apron on, they’d get their little boy back no matter what it took.

That they wouldnt stop hoping until news came to tell them he was gone.

And then just like that. The smoke disappeared. Swallowed up, gone. The skies slowly cleared above a dead Hawkins, revealing shrivelled trees, a horrorscape of a place that looked as though it'd been left to rot decades ago.

Lynda’s incredibly expensive mobile phone rang.

“…Mom?”

Part 3

[furuyalover]

Hey bae! Can I request the song Something Stupid by Frank Sinatra, with any of the Haikyuu boys for your music event? - 🫧

somethin’ stupid | mars & her music event

"and then i go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like 'i love you'"

— ft. iwaizumi hajime

AN: tysm for ur request! this was so much fun to write & ty for joining my event! for any readers int in participating, more info ab it here ! also this is on the longer side so cozy up, & get ready for some iwa fluff

"i know i stand in line, until you think you have the time to spend an evening with me..."

you were at a semi-formal event put on by your school, aoba johsai. despite the amount of people there, the ballroom in which the ball took place had a tranquil atmosphere. seeing your classmates in an elegant manner, looking at some of them and thinking oh wow they clean up nice, it was a rather lovely change of pace. however, only one student in particular really caught your eye. that student, of course, was the one and only, iwaizumi hajime.

he looked radiant. you've really never seen him in anything outside of his school and volleyball uniforms, so he was really a sight for sore eyes. the suit he wore was well-tailored, but you could still make out the defined muscles on his biceps. he was so elegant and well mannered in this setting, and it certainly helped that his best friend sitting next to him was being as obnoxious as usual, making iwaizumi's polished manner even more apparent,

hajime also had his eyes set on someone, you. he only ever sees you at school, in your required uniforms, so he was stricken with adornment when he saw you tonight. he had always admired you, had even a secret crush on you, (which of course was obvious to the whole volleyball team based off how much he mentions you) seeing you dressed so lovely, and looking even more beautiful than usual, how could he not gaze at you like that? but when he saw you being approached by other students, telling you how gorgeous you looked, his insecurities got the best of him. why should i even try? they already have all these other guys romancing them, i wouldn't even stand a chance, he would mumble to himself. oh how little the boy knows..

"i practice everyday to find some clever lines to make the meaning come through. but then i think i'll wait til the evening gets late, and i'm alone with you..."

after talking it over with his best friend who sat beside him, tooru oikawa, he decided to just say screw it and muster up enough courage to talk to you. he & oikawa practiced exactly what he's going to say to you, since tonight will be the night he finally confesses to you. after ensuring that his words will be perfect, he gathers all his confidence to get up, and begin walking to where you're standing & talking to a few classmates.

"the time is right, your perfume fills my head, the stars get red, and, oh, the night's so blue"

he slowly makes his way over to you, being sure that you aren't talking to anyone by the time he approaches you. everything is gonna go perfectly, he'll have the perfect moment to tell what he's been feeling all these months.

after finishing some conversations with friends, out of the corner of your eye you see a familiar face walking towards you. is iwaizumi really coming over here? oh my god this is really happening, shit i hope i look okay. you frantically pat down your hair and clothes, to make sure you hopefully look perfect by the time iwa sees you. when he finally gets to you, you notice something about him is different. he seems more reserved than usual, almost seemingly shy?

"iwaizumi! i didn't know if you were gonna make it today, great to see you!" you say smiling like an idiot. "please, call me hajime. great to see you too, you look stunning." flustered by his affection, you look down smiling to hide your beet red face. hajime is hit with relief because now you hopefully won't see how red he is himself. "hey don't wanna sound weird or anything, but would you wanna step outside with me for a sec? there's something i need to get off my chest." your eyes widened, nervous at what he could possibly have to say. but regardless you nod in agreement as he takes you outside.

the two of you gaze out to the sky, on the balcony just outside the venue of the formal, in partially comfortable partially awkward silence. "so, um, what was it you wanted to say?" you nervously ask to try and break the ever so loud silence. fuck. iwaizumi thought. all his practice with oikawa? yea, that all went out the window because suddenly his mind is going a million miles per minute. he has so many thoughts running through his head, but he just can't seem to find the words, nor the confidence, to voice them. but before you know, the stern and intimidating volleyball player you're used to turns into a rambling mess.

"and then i go and spoil it all by saying somethin' stupid like, 'i love you'..."

"i don't really know how to say this, but fuck it i'll just try" he starts. you take a step back to look at him, a little confused, but waiting to hear the rest. "y/n, i really like, maybe even love you. i don't know, i'm bad with feelings, but i do know that you're all i think about. i never shut up about you, and i think you're the most perfect person put on this earth. i know i'm not oikawa, and that you probably have tons of other guys who want you and i probably sound stupid but i jus-" he stops suddenly when realized that you've wrapped your arms around him and engulfed him in a hug. after hesitantly wrapping his muscular arms around you, he relaxes a bit more, and eases into your touch.

with the side of your face resting on his chest, you look up at him beaming. both of you blushing profusely, but neither of you pay any attention to that. after a moment of just staring at each other, you finally say with a smile "you are kinda stupid hajime, i like you too, maybe even love also. i don't know how you haven't picked up on that yet" this just makes iwaizumi pull you in tighter, it feels like all his dreams had just came true.

"oh my god he finally did it" "god it's about time" oikawa and hanamaki groan to each other. yes they watched this whole thing go down for a comfortable distance, partially to make fun of him but also just to support their close friend from afar

reblogs appreciated and admired ૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა

[kira-broflovski]

main 4 boys hcs: crushing on the new girl

note: more sleepover chapters to be out soon!! also i got carried away in kenny's part oops

STAN ☆

he thought he'd never be able to like a girl ever again, but that idea was short-lived when he saw you.

it was love at first sight.

he was planning on going up to you and introducing himself, but other guys were quicker.

i can see him being really jealous, especially if it's other football players or people he trusts. (maybe tolkien will come in and steal someone from stan again 💀)

at one point, he saw you getting uncomfortable with all the attention you were getting so stan saw an opportunity.

an opportunity to yell at the others while still looking like a good guy, that is.

"Alright, guys, that's enough!" Stan stomped his foot against the floor, silence quickly filling the teacher-less classroom. "Can't you see how uncomfortable she is?"

You couldn't stand to look at anyone while you were the centre of this unwanted attention.

The various types of guys hated the fact Stan was right and that you were visibly uncomfortable, but you were relieved at this sudden saviour.

While everyone backed off, Stan remained in front of you so you looked up at him while he approached with a subtle smile, which you thankfully returned.

"Hey, if anyone's ever bothering you, just text me." He stated before handing you a little yellow note, his phone number quickly scribbled across it.

"Thank you, uh..."

"Stan."

"Thank you, Stan." He was proud to be the first guy to get a genuine smile out of you.

"You're very welcome...?"

"Y/N."

"Well, see you around, Y/N." He might have fell in love first, but you fell harder.

"Bastard wanted her all to himself!"

KYLE ☆

when kyle first saw you, he thought you were cute of course but didn't think anything else until he sat next to you for a class you shared.

he is more of a hopeless romantic, so of course he would act on a classic trope when he got the chance to.

you were struggling with the question the teacher had set, so you turned to the person on your left but they made a snide comment and didn't bother helping you. thankfully, kyle came to your assistance.

"Ignore that asswipe, Y/N." You heard someone to the right-hand side of you say. "I'll help you."

You turned around to see it was Kyle, the smartest kid in the class!

"Thank you so much, Kyle!" It was good to know not everyone was mean here. At the mention of his name with your seemingly angelic voice, he felt his heart flutter.

"No worries," he smiled nervously. "What do you need help with?"

KENNY ☆

just like the others, when he first saw you he thought you were so pretty.

he just needed to have you.

but he's not as confident as his friends, so he shied away and decided to admire you from afar.

however, that changed when you were the one to go up to him: you introduced yourself and explained you wanted to make a lot of new friends.

kenny introduced himself, as well, he never thought he'd get the chance to talk to you like this. however, he made the mistake of making his liking towards you known to his friends... more specifically, cartman.

"You wouldn't like Kenny, new girl." Eric chuckled maliciously from behind the blonde-haired boy that was simply trying to admire the girl of his dreams in peace.

"Why not?" You huffed. "I've already taken a liking to him."

Kenny tried to act as if that isn't one of the sweetest things somebody has said about him.

"Well, he's poor!" Eric shouted as if it was obvious. "He'd be an even worse boyfriend, and he clearly already has a little crush on you."

The poor boy was mortified. Worried that he had just lost his chance with you when you stood in silence.

"What?" You were taken aback. Did Kenny really call this asshole a friend?

"I'm doing you a favour, whatever your name is." Eric continued. "Don't go for Kyle either, he's a stupid-"

"That's enough, fatass!" Kyle yelled.

Kenny started to panic. He didn't know what to do, and he's never felt more embarrassed. And it was all Eric's fault!

"C'mon, Kenny. Let's go somewhere else to talk." You said, much to his surprise, but he gladly accepted.

ERIC ☆

if this isn't enemies to lovers potential, idk what is.

he'd be more discreet about his crush because god forbid the others realise he actually likes someone!

he would just simply bully you, but you were different. you were just trying to be nice, so when he realised he actually felt a little bad he tried toning it down little by little before toning it down.

he's definitely the possessive type, so when he realised you had already became friends with the others... he wanted to be your friend too.

however, he just wanted you all to himself.

"Fuck you guys, I saw her first!"

"Saw her first? She's not an object, Cartman. She can choose who she wants to hang out with, and I'm surprised she even wants to associate with you!"

The boys were bickering back and forth as usual, arguing over you as if you weren't sat there with them.

"But, Y/N is mine!" Eric yelled, taking all of you by surprise.

"Yours?" You questioned.

"Ah, shit."

[guardian5tiger3]

Pick a group Tarot Read .

1 2

3 4

Picture one

You guys are needing some time to relax and find some peace and feel good . I'm picking up on a garden. And maybe you could listen to some calm music or some type of calming audio. You might also find it in your interest to visit some first of garden . This is especially for you if you're trying to quit or cut back on any addiction . At least for the mentality part of that, it is good when you get the mental side of a craving to find an activity that makes you feel good , of course that's the best distraction. I keep messing up on my words also and I'm not sure what it means do one of you have a crush cause I also am getting the vibe of like, school desks though .??? Maybe some of you need to mentally take it back to a time when you were younger and felt better in some way, or there might be something you find brings you nostalgia that you liked back then. Maybe some of you need to get yourself to a point where you can have a good cry. Also something about a milkshake . That does sound good if you like those there's an idea if you should make yourself feel better from something .

Picture two

Are you guys stoners or just real mellow types ?? Looks like you're running into some good luck . Y'all might find something and just like, get lucky somehow I don't know...

I think right now I can tell you guys the world is set up in some ways that you're frowned upon if you don't want to participate in things that doesn't even suite anybody and sometimes is completely immoral. Like literally money for instance as a bigger example. Or working a job. You guys might not be the types to naturally want to go with something like that at all and I think that the world is gonna say you're bad or horrible or wrong for that but I don't think you should care. I think it'll work out for you in true pot head fashion . Ride the waves my friends. But don't conform to something your soul doesn't like. I also keep thinking about Cheech and Chong and Scooby Doo ? Maybe you guys need a friend or have friends or maybe you have or are or will go through a phase of separation but you might not be separated forever though . You might also be loners and that's what you want to do then fine don't let the world tell you you have to have people around like that .

Picture three

Like half of you are in love with a person and with them half of you are in love with an activity or something you're learning or participating in somehow . Basically I'm seeing you might be being tested with random suitors or distractions but who or whatever you're in love with right now is the right and only one for you basically. Also picking up on snacks make sure you have those around especially for brain health and snacks uplift a person's mood for sure haha . One love. That's basically it .

Picture four

someone is selfish and also hates on you and wants to or has recently brought you to a place like McDonald's. DO NOT eat there . They put some awful things in their food and that's why they came out with things that are so cheap. Like waste being recycled and stuff and meat from animals you wouldn't want to eat and stuff. I'm gonna keep it real this person has a seemingly happy social life and probably family situation but you don't like them but for whatever reason are accompanying them but you might also fight or just judge them in your mind . They practice mind control and are a member of the cult going on in this world right now you know like from Hollywood to parts of the government (American) fast food and everything stuff like that also child abuse is big for them. I don't know what you want to call it illuminati or freemason's or just American cult or whatever I don't like them . Avoid watching TV instead watch YouTube or older movies . If you guys heal something for yourselves you will realize some type of lie or lies going on. You also some of you might be scared to get kicked out or be homeless . I'm also thinking of the movie the crow. The new one is disrespectful and I do not support it or condone it but the old 90's The Crow . Some of you not only are incarnated but maybe you were a popular person or considered important or well known somehow . Someone might know this about you . Probably your family or for one of you dude it's someone that is friends with your family and it's a man.

I know on my own time I'm realizing a lot about celebrity cloning and they've been doing that since at least 1969 . And basically if an influencer doesn't influence the way they want to influence they will clone them because it would be weird if everyone who did or said something new or against the government just died early asl. Anyway that's why it might be difficult for some of you to put together who you might have been . Maybe someone has told me maybe not outright maybe some fucking how but maybe there's just hints about it you know what I mean. Leave it to destiny I guess in the end though.

[just-jordie-things]

[part six] to build a home - gojo satoru

word count: 5k warnings: !!manga spoilers!! swearing, jjk-verse style fighting series summary: when (y/n) (y/l/n) catches wind that the notorious sorcerer killer, toji fushiguro, has children, she makes it her personal mission to find them. the catch being she couldn't tell a soul about them- the risk of the zen'in clan learning about them was too great. keeping the secret isn't the hard part, it's lying to her friends, shoko ieiri, geto suguru, and of course gojo satoru, that she struggles with. especially when satoru has suddenly become so keen on keeping an eye on her lately.

series masterlist

[part six] : "I Held On As Tightly As You Held Onto Me" ___

The day after her little excursion with Satoru, (y/n) wakes up bright and early to get off campus before anyone else awoke.  The alarm that blares in her ear is harsh and unforgiving at nearly six in the morning, but she doesn’t waste a second getting herself ready and rushing out to the front gates to get to town as soon as she could.

To her surprise, she wasn’t the only one awake this early in the morning.

“Nanami,” (y/n) stops in her tracks as she sees the lone sorcerer jogging through the gates.  He seems just as surprised to see her.  “What’re you doing up this early on a day off?” 

“I could ask you the same thing,” He stops just a few feet before her, his head tilted to the side.  “You’ve spent quite a bit of time in Tokyo, huh?” 

“You don’t know that’s where I'm off to” She replies, and it’s meant to be playful, teasing, but Nanami’s bullshit detector might rival Suguru’s.

He eyes her up and down.

“Looks to me like you are,” He says bluntly.  “If you’re not, then where are you off to?” 

(y/n) remains silent, unable to come up with even a half-decent lie.

“That’s what I thought,” He chuckled.  “Don’t worry.  I’m not one to spill other people’s business to those they’re hiding it from” 

Taken aback, (y/n) scoffs, shaking her head awkwardly.

“I’m not- I’m not hiding anything from anyone” 

“You’re a shitty liar,” Nanami replies, and it sounds harsh, but he’s just blunt with his words.  “Lucky for you, I’m tired of Gojo sticking his nose in things that don’t involve me, let alone him.  So I won’t tell him I saw you,” 

She’s trying to keep up a clueless act, but the relief she feels at his words is obvious.

“But a little advice?” Nanami asks, and she nods her head in a small motion, eyes flickering over him.  “He’s going to catch on sooner or later,” He tells her.  “So whatever you’re doing, whoever you’re seeing…” He trails off, seemingly to find the right words.  “You better get your shit figured out.  I’ll keep this to myself, but I don’t need Six Eyes in my business the way he got into Yu’s just to protect you” 

She nods again, slowly processing what he said.

“Thank you, Nanami,” Her voice is barely above a whisper when she finds it.  “I wouldn’t ask any more of you.  Thank you” 

The blonde sorcerer is still and silent for a moment, lost in his thoughts.  He doesn’t consider this an act of kindness, more so an act of self preservation.  He knew better than to get involved in something that would inevitably have upset Gojo Satoru.  Nanami may have subtly despised the older sorcerer, but  he was smarter than to go out of his way to upset him.

After a long pause, he nods back at her, and turns to continue his jog.  (y/n) reaches out before he can leave.

“Wait, Nanami,” She calls.  “One more thing?” 

Begrudgingly, he stops in his tracks, giving her his attention once more.

“You said Satoru was bothering Yu?” 

“Bothering is an understatement,” Nanami scoffs.  “Safe to say Yu’s terrified of him now.  If he wasn’t already.  But…” 

(y/n) waits impatiently for him to continue, hanging on to every word he spoke.  What business Satoru had scaring Yu, she wasn’t entirely sure.  But she wondered if it had anything to do with the last time he’d brought up the younger sorcerer’s crush.

“... I suppose Yu knew he was signing up for such treatment when he decided to pursue someone that already had a claim on them” 

(y/n) blinked, her mouth dropping open slightly, but no words came out.  No words even came to mind.  Nanami chuckled, smiling for maybe the first time she’s ever seen, before he gave her a small wave and jogged off.  She was frozen in place for a minute, and even when she finally brought herself to go on her way, she wasn’t quite sure what to make of their whole interaction.

She decides to pack it away in her mind for now, and keep her focus on the rest of her day.  She owed Megumi and Tsumiki big time for yesterday, and she planned to start the day off the right way- with apology donuts.

Last night (y/n) had called Tsumiki like she’d promised she would, and the little girl didn’t seem too bothered that she hadn’t made an appearance that day, but she’d said that Megumi wasn’t in the mood to talk.  Leaving (y/n) to believe the young boy held a little more of a grudge.  

Not that she could blame him.  She’d dropped the ball by not holding to her promise.  She hoped that some day, when they were older, they would understand why she had to keep them a secret.  It was for their own good and she knew that now, but they weren’t quite old enough for her to explain.

She just hoped that they could forgive her, this time.  And she hoped that she’d never have to go back on their word again. ___

Satoru strolled into the courtyard, finding his friends relaxed at a picnic table, their lunches and a pack of cigarettes between them.  They were laughing at something he hadn’t heard before approaching, clearly sharing their food and a cig.  There was just one thing missing.

“Hey,” The white haired sorcerer greeted, throwing one leg over the wooden bench, facing Suguru as he sat.  “Where’s-” 

“Before you ask, we don’t know,” Shoko cut him off, passing the cigarette back to the man across from her, and picking up a pair of chopsticks in exchange.  “Went to ask her if she wanted to have lunch with us, but she wasn’t in her room.  Again” 

“Again?” Satoru asked, brows furrowing.

“(y/n’s) absent almost more than you are these days, Satoru” Suguru commented.

“With what? Tutoring?” 

“Who knows,” Shoko hums.  “But she’s not on campus” 

Satoru gives her a hard stare from behind his dark shades.  The girl throws her hands up defensively, before reaching in front of Suguru’s plate to snatch up a rice ball.

“She’s been off having her own little adventures for the last few weeks,” Suguru says.  “We don’t know where she goes.  She likes her privacy” 

“So you don’t even know where she is-?” 

“Satoru,” Shoko mumbles through a mouthful of rice ball.  “You worry too much about her.  If she was in trouble, she would tell us” 

Suguru points a finger at her, silently agreeing with what she said.

“You’re both the worst” Satoru mutters, earning a laugh from his friends.

“You’re worried she’s with a guy?” Shoko muses, her eyes wandering over Suguru’s plate, trying to decide on what to steal next.

Suguru lets out a whistle, an amused smile on his face.

“Did she say something about a guy?” He asks before Satoru can.

“Maybe,” Shoko replies, eyeing a juicy looking piece of beef, and plucking it up before Suguru’s chopsticks can beat her to it.  “Maybe not” 

Satoru’s jaw is locked in place, and he feels his eye start to twitch like it had the day he approached Haibara.  Meanwhile, Suguru is laughing, like he’s excited to hear such news.

“(y/n) with a non-sorcerer?” He thinks aloud.  He’s laughing so much his shoulders are shaking.  Satoru thinks about smacking him upside the head.  “How fascinating” 

“She’s not seeing a guy,” The white haired sorcerer snaps.  “She would have said something” 

Shoko scoffs.

“Not likely” 

“What makes you say that?” 

“Because she’s always been private about her romantic interests?” Her voice tilts as though asking a question, as though it was an obvious answer.  “I swear I’ve had to pry it out of her” 

“Oh do tell” Suguru purrs, leaning over the table curiously.

“Or don’t,” Satoru grumbles.  “I’d like to keep my lunch inside of me, thank you” 

“Don’t be such a jealous bore,” Suguru waves a dismissive hand towards his friend, before turning back to Shoko.  “So, who has she been with? Because I would just love to hear about a few of those little underclassmen in the sack” 

Shoko giggles, reaching over to snatch the cigarette that had been ignored in his fingers for far too long.

“I wouldn’t be a good friend if I told,” She winked.  “You’ll just have to sleep with them to see for yourself” 

“You’re both insufferable, you know that?” 

“Speak for yourself” Suguru replies.

“I’m a little curious about Ijichi, though.  What do you think?” Shoko ponders, to no one in particular.

Suguru hums thoughtfully.

“So you have no idea where (y/n) is, or what she’s been up to, but she’s been sneaking off for the last week?” 

“We never said she was sneaking off” Suguru shrugs a shoulder.

“Oh, I would,” Shoko speaks up, blowing out a plume of smoke.  “Saw her sneaking back in on Friday” 

Suguru raises an intrigued brow.

“Late?” He presumes.

She nods, a small smirk on her lips.

“Almost midnight” 

Suguru whistles again.

Satoru was getting tired of their gossip that led nowhere.  They could both tell that he was annoyed, they just didn’t care enough to drop the topic.  It was fun after all, getting him riled up.  It was also fun to chat about what they thought she was up to.

“Definitely a booty call, then,” Suguru decides, snatching a piece of beef off his plate before Shoko could.  “Why else would she be slinking around so late?” He ponders.

Satoru can’t wrap his head around (y/n) sneaking out to hook up with some nobody in Tokyo.  How would she have even met this person? And she didn’t seem the type to have some meaningless fling.  But perhaps that was all the more reason for her to have one? The secrecy of it all gnawed at him, made him queasy.  He ran a hand through his hair stressfully.

“Come to think of it, a few weeks ago I also saw her get in pretty late.  Not that late, but it was probably around ten o’clock” Suguru pursed his lips as he thought about it, knowing full well that she had in fact been sneaking around.

But he didn’t have to share that information just yet.  Making Satoru squirm was far too entertaining.

Satoru suddenly stood from his seat.  Both of his friends watched him curiously, wondering if he was going to blow up or just storm off.

He turns to walk off, but before he can get too far, Shoko speaks up.

“I wouldn’t go after her”

Satoru turns around, crossing his arms over his chest.

“And why shouldn’t I?” 

“Tch, isn’t it obvious?” Suguru scoffs.  “If you go after her now, and catch her in- well whatever or whoever she’s up to, she’ll be pissed” 

Satoru grinds his teeth, not wanting to admit out loud that his friends were right.  Even though they all knew it.

“You don’t want to piss her off,” Shoko chuckles, stumping the embers off the butt of her cigarette on the wood table.  “(y/n’s) fiery when she’s angry,” She lets out a short chuckle as though she were recalling her own experience with upsetting the girl.  “But, maybe you’d like that” She adds with a little smirk.

Suguru snickers across from her.

Satoru’s jaw finally relaxes.  And then in a blink, he was no longer standing before them.  They don’t know where he teleported off to, but their focus shifts right back to the lunch before them.

“You really think (y/n’s) got a hookup in town?” Suguru asks.

Shoko shrugs.

“Don��t have another explanation for it.  You?”

“Yeah.  Me neither,” He agrees.  “You think Satoru’s gonna go track the poor fucker down?” 

“Yep” 

“Yeah.  Me too” ___

In fact, Gojo Satoru hadn’t teleported himself into Tokyo.  His friends had gotten too in his head for him to go searching for (y/n).  No matter how much his curiosity was eating him alive wondering what she could be up to, he was more afraid of losing her in the long run if he stuck his nose in her business.  He’d have to figure out some other way to get her to fess up.

He’d just gotten too annoyed with his friends, so he’d teleported himself into the school, and as soon as his feet touched ground, his fist was launching into the wall.  The wood splintered and cracked, but luckily he hadn’t fully punched through it.  Yaga would probably be upset.

Shaking out his now sore and bruised hand, he looked over, realizing he hadn’t chosen an empty hallway to punch out his frustrations.

Nanami Kento stood there, just a few feet away.  His face expressionless, but still staring at the sight before him inquisitively.

“Something bothering you?” He asked, his voice monotone.  Satoru sneered back at the sarcastic remark.

“Mind your business” 

“You’re the one that showed up in front of me and started punching” Nanami scoffed.

Alright.  That was true.

“Whatever” He muttered.

“Why would you punch something without your infinity up?” Nanami asks, his head nodding to the bloodied knuckles of Satoru’s hand.  “Doesn’t that hurt?” 

Satoru wants to repeat himself, tell him to mind his business, flip him the middle finger and storm off, but for some reason, he chuckles.

“Yeah, it does,” He answered.  “Guess I was too angry” 

The blonde sorcerer hummed, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“You’re going to leave Yu alone, right?” He changes the topic, taking a few steps forward.

Satoru looks him up and down, raising a brow curiously.

“What, you got a reason why I should?” He asks.  

Honestly, Satoru had no intention of going after the younger sorcerer anymore than he already had.  Even if by some landslide (y/n) decided he was her dream man, he would leave him alone.  But Nanami’s question sparked an interest in him. 

“Besides the fact that he hasn’t done anything wrong?” Nanami quips back, his voice never wavering above it’s steady tone.

Satoru chuckles, and shakes his head.

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna kill your friend just cause he sticks his business where it doesn’t belong” 

“Hypocrite” Nanami bites back.

“Me?” Satoru laughs again, but this time it’s humorless.  Irritated.  “I’m the hypocrite?” 

“You’re the one that barged in on us, demanding him to tell you about his encounter with her.  You’re the one that was acting like a dog marking it’s territory” 

Satoru’s interest in this conversation was quickly turning to rage.  He should have just told Nanami that he had no qualms with Haibara Yu, but now it was too late, and he was getting pissed off.  

He takes a long stride forward, his eyes hardening.

“Are you calling her my territory?” He asks, voice losing it’s playful tone as it lowers.

Nanami knew that if they were to get into a fight right now, he was bound to lose in a mere second.  But he was protective of his friend, and this conflict was pointless.

That said, Gojo Satoru was starting to get on his nerves, walking around like he could act however he wanted, treat people however he wanted, Haibara and (y/n) alike.  Yu hadn’t crossed any lines, and despite how the Six Eyes user may feel, (y/n) wasn’t spoken for.

“I’m saying (y/n) isn’t spoken for,” Nanami voices his thoughts, even though deep down, the instinct in his blood told him to back off before this got ugly.  “She doesn’t belong to anyone,” 

Satoru is all but oozing his jealousy.  He’s glaring at him, his chest puffed, his hands in fists at his sides.  Nanami would have laughed had he not been completely serious.

“And if she were here, she’d probably tell you so” He finished.

They stand in silence for a minute.  

One of them glaring, huffing in annoyance.  

The other is calm, collected, unwavering in his stance.

The silence is long, and deafening.  Until Nanami finally walks away, without a word, without a second glance back, he leaves Satoru alone in the hall.  His work feels completed.  Haibara Yu shouldn’t have any issue with the older, more experienced sorcerer again.  He’s not sure if he’s solved any conflict for (y/n) (y/l/n) or made it worse, but he feels little to no care if he’s disturbed her relationship with Gojo Satoru.

However, as he leaves, there’s a slight nag in the back of his mind.  A worry that he’d done her a disservice by speaking on her behalf.  He tries to brush it off.

Suddenly he’s reminded of the way she’d thanked him that morning, for keeping a small secret for her.  If he could even call it a secret, it’s not as though he’d known what she was up to at the crack of dawn, and he’s not even sure why he cared to keep that to himself now, even when he could have used it to get under Gojo’s skin.  Something told him not to bring it up, for her sake.

Nanami Kento didn’t know (y/n) well, she was a year above him after all, so the only time he’d spent any time with her at all was during the Exchange Event with the Kyoto school.  Even then, all he could gather on her was that she was a very skilled, very thoughtful fighter.  It wasn’t like there was any spare time to get to know her better.  So he doesn’t know why he’d chosen to keep her secret.

Perhaps Yu had spoken too fondly of her as of late, and it had gotten to his head. ___

(y/n) had spent all day chatting with Tsumiki, about anything and everything she’d wanted to talk about.  They talked about school, what manga she was reading, what friends she had hung out with as of late, the conversation seemed to flow with ease.  (y/n) was grateful that the young girl had forgiven her, seemingly easily, and she made sure to assure her that she would never go back on her word again.

They’re sitting on the couch in the living room together when (y/n) tells her this.

“I know, (y/n).  It’s okay” Tsumiki had said.

“I know you say that,” (y/n) had spoken seriously, the light mood in the living room suddenly warping.  “But I want you to know that I mean it.  When I make a promise about something, I won’t ever go back on it.  Not with you.  Not again” 

Tsumiki nods, giving her a small smile.  She seems to understand how important it was for (y/n), so she decides to treat it with importance too.

“I think Megumi was a little upset,” She admits, quietly.

(y/n) nods in agreement.  She’d already gotten that feeling, since he hadn’t left his room, even when she’d brought him a donut for breakfast.  It had been hours since she’d arrived at the Fushiguro house, and he was still holed up in there.

“He didn’t say anything,” Tsumiki continues.  “But he gets quiet when he’s upset.  Even though he’s always quiet”

(y/n) chuckles softly.

“I don’t blame him for being upset with me,” She replies.  “If he doesn’t want to talk to me, that’s alright.  It won’t bother me” 

It’s quiet.  Tsumiki plays with the hem of her dress while (y/n) pensively glances out the window.  She means what she said, but she hopes that Megumi would crawl out of his shell soon, so that she could properly apologize to him.

“(y/n)?”

The sorcerer hums, looking back over to the child.

“It’s been really nice… having you around,” Tsumiki says, so soft that she’s almost whispering.  She’s still staring down at the skirt of her dress, held tightly in her small hands.  “I’m really glad you found us” 

Her heart swells with so much love that (y/n) can’t help but grin.  She reaches out, tucking a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear, before smoothing her hand over the back of her head.

“I’m glad I found you too, Tsumiki,” She tells her.  “I hope you know you can always ask me for anything.  Whatever it is, I’ll do anything I can to do it for you.  Okay?” 

Tsumiki nods, her cheeks blossoming with pink as she smiles back at her.

“I should probably go bug your brother,” (y/n) sighs, dropping her hand and leaning back in her seat.  “He’s not going to be happy with me, is he?” 

Tsumiki giggles, shaking her head.

“If you hear me screaming for help, come save me?” 

Still giggling, the nine year old nods this time, and (y/n) smiles playfully back at her, before standing from the sofa.

Making her way down the hall and to the front of Megumi’s closed door, she takes in a deep breath, knowing he will be harder to crack than his sister.  Megumi had always been more reserved, even when he opened up to her it was always by handing out scraps.  She wanted to make this right.  He deserved that much.

She knocks gently on the wood.

“Megumi?” She calls, before knocking again.  “Can I come in” 

It’s quiet for a beat.  Before she hears a small, “Fine” 

Still, as she opens the door, she’s slow, and she doesn’t step inside right away.

Megumi is sitting on the floor with his back against his bed.  He’s reading Charlotte’s Web again, the book propped open in his lap.  (y/n) wonders how many times he’s read it now, and her heart weakens a little at the realization why he held such an attachment to it.

But she can’t cry for him, not right now.  Right now he needed to see that she was strong, and she was here because she wanted to be strong for him, for both of them.

“What have you been up to today?” She asks, leaning against the doorframe.

The boy doesn’t answer aloud.  He simply holds his book up, before placing it back in his lap.

“Reading?”

He blinks at her.

“That’s good.  I was too much of a brat as a kid to enjoy reading.  But it’s a good hobby.  For smart kids” 

“You’re saying you weren’t a smart kid?” He asks.  (y/n) chuckles, shaking her head.

“Absolutely not,” She admits.  “I was a troublemaker.  I get the feeling you wouldn’t have liked me if you’d known me back then,” She tells him.

Young Megumi’s eyes are wide.  He’s shocked to hear someone say such a thing.  He’d never thought an adult would admit something so silly.  Usually adults always acted like they were perfect, and they knew best.  

He supposed he already knew (y/n) was different.  She wasn’t like other adults, probably because she wasn’t quite yet a real adult herself.

“Not that I assume you like me now,” She continues, only half teasing.  “But I think you would, if you got to know me better,” 

Megumi drops his head, staring down at the pages of his book.  He picks at the edge of it’s worn spine.

(y/n) tilts her head to the side, watching him thoughtfully for a moment, giving him a minute to take in everything she’d said before she continued.

Megumi and his sister were vastly different, for as close as they were.  Tsumiki was bubbly, chatty, happy to get to know anyone and happy to let anyone get to know her.  Megumi was quite the opposite.  He wasn’t shy, but he was more reserved than any other eight year old (y/n) had met.  He didn’t want to open up, seemingly ever, and he also didn’t show much interest in other people opening up either.

“Megumi, if I ask you something, do you think you could be honest with me?” Her question is carefully worded, hoping that he could see she was trying to present an olive branch.

He looks up at her, thinking for a moment, before nodding his head.

“Are you upset with me for not coming by yesterday?” She asks, tilting her towards her shoulder.

“You don’t owe us anything,” Megumi answers, dropping his eyes to his book again.  “You don’t have to come here.  You don’t know us” He pauses, his fingers tugging roughly at the spine of his book now.

(y/n) steps inside then, crossing the room to kneel down in front of him.  Her hands gently wrapped around his, stopping him from damaging his book further.

Megumi freezes, but he doesn’t push her away, and doesn’t snap out of irritated protest.  (y/n) realizes she’s never touched him before, and she wasn’t sure when the last time someone could have touched him gently, affectionately.  His father surely wasn’t the type, and she didn’t know how long his mother had been out of the picture.

She wraps her hands around his small one more securely, pulling it away from the book.  He’s staring at her hands as though it was his first time seeing them.  When she looks at him, she can see his eyes have a gloss to them.

“That isn’t what I asked,” She reminds him.  “It’s okay if you’re upset with me, you know.  You’re allowed to be” 

He looks at her now, his little eyebrows pinched together as he tries to figure out what he’s supposed to say.

And then he remembers that she asked him to be honest, and he supposes he has no reason not to be.

“I shouldn’t be upset,” He huffs.  “You’re not our family.  And I should have never expected you to stick around anyways.  No one sticks around” 

(y/n) shuffles to sit beside him, with her back pressed to his bed.  She lets go of his hand to take his book away, marking the page before setting it down on the floor in front of them.

“You’re right,” She hums, thoughtfully.  “I’m not your family, and I don’t need you to treat me as such,” She adds.  “But Megumi, I want you to know, that I will always come back,” 

He blinks at her, his eyes filling with more tears.

“I’m not going anywhere.  I’m sticking around whether you want me to or not.  And I need you to believe me when I tell you that,” 

(y/n) feels herself get choked up as well, but she clears her throat and wills her eyes to dry.  This wasn’t about her.

“If only you knew how long I looked for you,” She confesses, placing a hand on his unruly head of hair, ruffling it playfully.  “Once I knew you guys were out there somewhere, on your own, I didn’t stop.  I never rested.  And to be honest, I still don’t.  I probably never will,” 

Megumi sniffled, and wiped his eyes on his arm.  (y/n) dropped her hand from his hair, smiling softly at him.

“You’re important to me,” She tells him.  “Even when you’re being a little shit,” She adds in a teasing voice.

Megumi’s eyes widened at the curse word, in disbelief she would say such a thing to a kid, even if it was true.  She chuckles at his reaction.

“I’m so sorry that I didn’t come yesterday,” She hums.  “I should have been here.  I told you I would be, and I should have.  It’s not okay that I lied to you.  And I will never lie to you again, alright?”

He nods his head in a small action.  A tear slips down his cheek.

“I’m really proud of you for getting all of your schoolwork done,” She says.  “I’m really proud of you for being so grown up, and taking care of yourselves all this time,” She adds.  “You’re a brave kid, Megumi.  Probably the toughest I’ve ever met,” 

More tears pool out of his eyes, dripping off his eyelashes and splashing down his cheeks, staining his shirt.  He’s sniffling as he cries, and he’s given up on trying to wipe away all of his tears.  They’re falling too fast for him to catch them all.

“And I promise I’ll always be here for you,” (y/n) reaches a hand out, cupping his small face and wiping away his tears with the pad of her thumb.  “Always.  Okay? For anything you need.  You understand?” 

“Okay” Megumi’s voice cracks.

His eyes shut tight, and before (y/n) can reach her other hand out to dry his other cheek, he launches forward.  His arms reach around her back, grabbing the back of her shirt as he hugs her tightly, crying into her sweater.

(y/n) looks down at him for a second, taken aback by the sudden action.  But she snaps herself out of her surprise, wrapping her arms around his small frame, and hugging him closely.  She held on as tightly as he held onto her.

He’s shaking slightly.  She rubs his back in smooth, slow circles, resting her chin on the top of his head as she soothes him quietly.  

It’s several minutes before he stops crying, but even still, he remains in her hold for a little longer.  (y/n) doesn’t mind.  She’d sit here with him for the rest of her day if she had to.  She’d do anything to put him at ease.

She’d do anything to build a home for these kids.  It dawns on her now, something Megumi had said about her not being family.  Perhaps they weren’t by blood, but still her heart grew and ached for these kids. They were like family to her.

They spend the rest of the day together relaxing, watching funny movies and eating snacks.  (y/n) makes them a big dinner, with plenty of leftovers for them to heat up throughout the next few days if she can't stop by.  She makes them promise they’ll eat the vegetables even if she’s not around.

That night when she puts them to bed, Megumi crawls into Tsumiki’s bed, happily listening to (y/n) read the next chapter of Charlotte’s Web, even if he’d already read it countless times.  He falls asleep in Tsumiki’s bed.

(y/n) brushes their hair from their foreheads so it wouldn’t tickle them in their sleep.  She leaves the room silently.  When she gets outside, she says the incantation to lower the protective curtain.

Her walk home feels more quiet than usual.  Her thoughts aren’t buzzing with paranoia of getting back so late, or worry that she was overstepping in the Fushiguro’s lives.

She felt content.  Calm. All she could hope was that her kids had a good night’s sleep, and that the next time she saw them they had nothing but good things to share with her. ___

taglist: @whats-humanity-lol @malinq-ashida @mor-pheus @bekahtaylorgriggs @pookiea @megumimind @thealchemical @pearlstiare @niallerhere @96jnie @purpleguk @peqch-pie @yukinemaroop @makis-girl @sadtoru

xoxo - jordie

[eddiemunsonw]

All I want...

Steve Harrington x Fem!reader

Summary: You weren't even thinking about him lately, when Steve asks you to help him chaperone at the school's Christmas Gala. You want to refuse, but you simply can't disappoint your teenage self.

CW/Disclaimer: No warnings I think? Just fluff. Or maybe I should warn that there's a little bit of a certain Mariah Carey song in there. I know some people have a passion to dislike that, so be warned!

Author's note: A Christmas fic? In February?? YES. Life got in the way, okay? Deal with it, it's still nice. I hope. If not, well. Eh.

Words: 4225

The fact that it was such a quiet Saturday at the coffee shop should have alerted you that something was bound to happen. Something weird. Something like your old classmate Steve Harrington stopping by and making a beeline for you instead of the register.

You hadn’t talked to Steve since you graduated, which was almost four years ago. To be fair, you had never really talked to Steve. Not unless he needed to borrow a pencil or wanted to check your notes (aka copy your homework). He knew you were smart, would tell you as such whenever he handed you your notes back. One time he even asked you for help with chemistry. That had probably been the day you talked to him the most. However, you were never friends. Just vague classmates, one who asked for favors and the other who people pleased her way through high school.

College had been in the plans, but instead you wound up working at the coffee shop for a summer job and decided that you liked the stability to save up for your own place. Besides, the work wasn’t terrible and you honestly had no idea yet what you wanted to do with your life. Your friends had all left for college several states away though and it had been a while since you had been chatting with someone your age, if you were honest. So the fact that Steve was currently talking to you not realizing you were very much not registering what he was saying? Not great. Expected though.

“Y/N?” Steve’s animated hand gestures faltered a little as you gazed blankly up at him.

“Sorry, I completely zoned out. You wanna order?”

“Uh… sure, why not,” he said hesitantly, as if he didn’t walk into the coffeeshop to get, you know, coffee. You both walked to the counter, each on one side and you turned on your heel to face him. You watched him expectantly and wondered what was up with him when he stared right back, instead of looking at the menu behind your head.

“Oh,” he cleared his throat awkwardly, “uhh… coffee?”

“Just plain black coffee?”

“Sure.”

“Alright…”

Steve Harrington was acting strange and you didn’t know why. Trying not to dwell on it, you prepared his coffee and set it in front of him. He placed a couple bills on top of the counter without waiting for you to mention the amount, still seemingly distracted.

“So… The Christmas Gala at Hawkins needs chaperones. We’re having a massive shortage and it’s my problem now, apparently.”

The what now?”

“Don’t act like I’m suddenly talking gibberish, Y/N. The Christmas gala. They need chaperones.”

“Okay…? That sucks,” you said, unsure why he needed you to know all of this. Of course, you should have known better. He was the guy who came to you when he needed something, after all.

“It would suck a lot less if you’d chaperone with me,” he hinted, giving you his million-dollar grin. You barked out a short laugh, causing Steve’s brow to twitch in subtle confusion.

“Yeah, no thanks,” you told him followed by a chuckle. “Can’t you ask your girlfriend or something?”

What? You were just curious. If he had one. It’s not as if that stupid crush you had on him in high school which made you so inclined to share your work and pencils was still there. Pfft. Not at all. Why and how was he even prettier than he used to be?

“Uhh…” he gave you an awkward look, “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Now why did that fill you with glee, huh?

“Please.”

Before you could respond, he was already walking around the counter, only giving you two seconds to back away as he took your hands in his.

“Please please please please please, I really don’t want to have to ask my ex.”

“Nancy?” Everyone knew about Nancy.

“No, she’s not even in town. No uh, another one. None of them, actually. It would be way too awkward.”

“And chaperoning with me, who you haven’t talked to for god knows how long isn't?”

“Huh? No. You’re my pencil buddy from high school! Nothing awkward about that? Come on!” He squeezed your hands for emphasis and gave you his best puppy eyes. Damn him.

“Also… why are your exes the only option? Surely you haven’t dated every—”

Steve gave you a look. It was both endearing and silly. So Harrington was still the same Casanova as ever.

“Oh come on?!”

“You know how I was in high school. I repeated a cycle of that when I just started teaching. Let’s just say some parent-teacher meetings are very awkward now.”

“Were they at least single?”

“Uh…”

“Steve!”

“To my knowledge?! I found out one wasn't during one of those blissful meetings. So yeah. You can guess how that went. Please, Y/N! You want me to go on my knees? I’ll do it, just say the word.”

When Steve was about to drop on his knees you quickly grabbed his arm to stop it and grimaced at the not so PG-13 thoughts that flooded your brain.

“No, no. No need. Fine. I’ll do it. On one condition.”

Stop it, brain. Don’t say it.

“Anything.”

DON’T. 

“One dance.”

For fuck’s sake. You cursed your brain for not being on the same level as you.

“Oh, uhm, sure? Is that all?”

He sounded genuinely surprised and you regretted asking for a dance already. How pathetic were you, feeling the need to satiate your teenage self to get a dance from the one and only Steve Harrington?

“And you better have alcohol somewhere.”

“Naturally. Preferences?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure out something nice.”

Steve nodded and finally let go of your hands. Suddenly your hands felt way colder than they had before.

“Alright then… I’ll see you this Friday? Oh and, well I guess you know there’s a dress code.”

“Any theme? Wait… this Friday?”

“Uh, yeah! This Friday. Theme is Gatsby, I think. But any fancy dress will do. Or suit, if that’s your thing. My best friend Robin likes to—”

The bell above the door interrupted whatever Steve was going to say and he gave you a small nod as a bunch of teenagers walked in for a hot chocolate. After a small wave, Steve left through the door right before shouting “See you Friday!”, his coffee long forgotten.

-

Friday. You should have just said no. A loud sigh escaped through your firmly pressed lips when you eyed yourself in the mirror. The dress was nice, it was just… you’d gained some weight. It fit differently than it did the last time you wore it. Even though it still looked good, it was super flattering in fact, you couldn’t help but worry over what Steve might think. As if he would care. There was no way he cared even the slightest about what you looked like. He never expressed any interest in you and he never would and honestly? That was for the best. You two were way too different to work anyway. At least that’s what you tried to convince yourself. It was easier to shut these things down before they had a real chance to flourish in your mind.

Your decision to walk quickly became something you cursed your past self for as you felt your feet tire out. You weren’t even wearing the highest, thinnest of heels in the slightest, but you were used to your flat sneakers, so it was still an adjustment. As you made your way towards the school, you saw more and more fancy cars pass you by. It somehow made you feel like you were going to prom ten years late or something, with the way you were dressed.

The school was nicely decorated in a classic Christmas theme. Several Christmas trees filled up the hallway leading towards the gym. In true Hawkins Tigers fashion, the greens were decorated with ornaments and ribbons of gold. As you made your way down the hall you noticed that they even put some mistletoe here and there. The kids that passed you gave you weird looks, some mumbling to each other something along the lines of ‘who is she?’, while others simply gawked. Oh well. You arrived at the front where you could leave your coat, but there was no sign of Steve just yet. His laughter found you before his appearance did.

You recognized that type of laugh. It was the one he used when he was talking to a pretty girl. Why you knew this beat you as well. His voice grew louder and suddenly he appeared in the doorway. He was looking behind him, probably still talking to the woman that caught his interest, until you subtly cleared your throat. As his head turned, you noticed a slight widening of his eyes, before his grin followed and he approached you.

“Y/N! You made it!” he said happily, halting in front of you as he put his hands on your arms. “Again, thank you so much for this.”

You were certain he had already discarded his blazer somewhere, leaving him with just his black silk shirt and dark green dress pants. He looked absolutely beautiful, his hair neat in a boyishly styled kind of way. Playful yet suave.

“It’s my pleasure,” you said, though you could tell by his subtle snort that he didn’t believe you and honestly, neither did you. Yet, you wouldn’t have wanted to miss how he looked tonight for the world. His hands brushed down your arms and moved away just before they would reach your hands.

“Right, so, basically… the party’s in there, we look at young love blossoming and stuff and enjoy ourselves.” He waited a beat and then extended his arm towards your waist. “Shall we?”

You were surprised by his gallant way to guide you inside, considering you wouldn’t expect him to want to be seen with you like that. It was nothing, not really, but…

“So, turns out one of my exes is here. One I didn’t really end it badly with, for once,” he snorted dryly and gave you a painful smile as you met him with a near eye roll. “I was thinking… Maybe this is like destiny or some shit, right? I went out of my way to get someone else and yet there’s still an ex…”

Your eyes landed on all the women your age one by one until a blonde caught your attention.

“Let me guess… it’s the blonde over there?”

Steve made a funny face and nodded.

“Yup. Shelly. Looking as amazing as ever.”

You were nodding before you realized you were and sighed to yourself. As your eyes wandered, they landed on the table with drinks. Right, alcohol. You could use some of that.

“So… did you bring any?”

Steve grinned and looked around the room. “It’s in my blazer which is… somewhere. I’ll go find it.”

As he passed you, he gave your waist a gentle squeeze and you wished it didn’t give you so many butterflies. The kids seemed to look so much younger nowadays. It didn’t make you feel old, just not really accomplished in life either. Steve took quite a while, so you decided to leave your spot and wandered around the gym as you slowly tried to remember the kids’ faces. Something to keep you occupied. Just as you turned your route towards the entrance, you spotted Steve. Ah. The blonde, Shelly, was laughing way too hard as her hand landed on his arm. You doubted it was that funny. Not wanting to be too focused on him, you decided to turn your gaze away in search of a seat. The bleachers would do just fine. You made your way to the top, giving you a good overview of the room. The kids were dancing together adorably and from the looks of it no one was really left out, which made you feel a little warm inside. The music made you tap along with your heel subconsciously, so lost in thought that you didn’t even hear the stomping of Steve coming up the bleachers.

“Jeez, there you are! I’ve been looking for you!” he said, a little out of breath for some reason, which felt a little uncharacteristic for this sporty guy in front of you.

“Oh? Were you?” you asked with little emotion as you looked up at him. He frowned and quickly sat down next to you so you didn’t have to crane your neck any longer.

“I was getting the booze, remember?” he mumbled. You snorted as he uncovered it from under his blazer which he was carrying and handed it to you.

“Couldn’t let the kids see,” he explained as he heard your subtle reaction. You nodded in agreement and opened the flash, taking a gentle whiff of it.

“No poison?” you asked, side-eyeing him. Steve chuckled and then shrugged.

“Alcohol is kind of poisonous in a way, isn’t it?”

“I guess. So is life.”

Steve laughed softly. “So dark, jeez.”

When you barely gave him a hint of a smile, he nudged you.

“Hey, you good? Sorry if I was too pushy about asking you to chaperone, maybe I should’ve—”

With a quick head shake you dismissed him and smiled softly.

“No, it’s alright, my mood has nothing to do with that, I promise.”

“Then what… is it? Did something happen?”

You felt like an idiot for being jealous of Shelly. For being envious that his attention was on her and not you. As if you had any right to be jealous! It made no sense at all. You weren’t here as his date, you were here as his last resort. The sincere worry in his eyes made you hate your feelings even more. Who knew that being in the same room with Steve Harrington for the second time in a week was enough to rekindle your stupid crush on him.

“No, nothing happened,” you said with a soft sigh and then took a big swig of the flask before handing it back to him. Steve took a swig as well but never removed his eyes away from your face.

“Well, if you’re sure…” 

He rested his arm against yours, shifted closer into your space even. After a moment, he nudged you gently.

“See those two? They’ve been dancing around each other in class for a year now. You can see they’re into each other, but neither of them dared to do anything about it. He asked her at last. It’s adorable, isn’t it? Those little shy smiles…”

The kids were adorable indeed, and so was Steve as he looked at them with the softest smile, almost proud. He probably was. While you were distracting yourself by focusing on the kids, Steve casually dropped his hand on your knee. You figured it was accidental, but then he started to caress you gently and you wondered if maybe he had had more alcohol before you arrived. You knew it meant nothing.

“So, about that dance—”

“So you and Shelly, huh?”

You both laughed as you had spoken up at the same time, though Steve’s brows quickly formed a frown when he registered your words.

“Me and Shelly?”

“Yeah. Any rekindling there? I saw how she looked at you. You looked like a couple of highschool sweethearts.”

“Oh, uh…” Steve chuckled awkwardly and removed his hand from your knee simultaneously. “I don’t know. She said it was good to see me, that was about it. Her kid’s gonna transfer to Hawkins soon.”

“Oh, that’s great! You’ll be seeing more of each other then,” you said with a smile, forcing yourself to be happy for him. It was better than to wallow in self pity at a kid’s dance.

“I guess… yeah. Anyway, I—”

“Steve!”

An older woman called for him, probably a colleague, so Steve had to excuse himself. He left the booze and his blazer with you and told you he’d be back. You doubted it. Shelly was already making her way back to him already the moment she caught him in her peripheral vision. It was so obvious she was trying to get back with him. Your eyes went back to the kids Steve pointed out earlier and you smiled when the girl rested her head on his shoulder. Who knew, maybe they’d become highschool sweethearts. You took another swig of the flask, swirled it around your tongue and swallowed to let it burn down your throat. Time got lost on you as you watched the joy in front of you. Most of the teachers were dancing too now, doing a neat job of multitasking while they chaperoned and watched for any illegal activities. Your eyes met Steve’s as he finally managed to get away from what seemed to be an endless conversation, and he tilted his head to the side, beckoning you to come.

With only some slight reluctance, you made your way downstairs. You had momentarily forgotten about Shelly, considering she had gone elsewhere when the older woman kept Steve occupied, until she suddenly stood next to him again. Somewhere between you minding your step down the bleachers she had managed to get all back up in his personal space. Hand on his chest, a flirtatious shoulder nudge… yeah. And Steve didn’t seem to mind. 

So, instead of making a total fool of yourself, you approached him, arms outstretched so you could hand him back his blazer, and left him together with Shelly. You even managed an encouraging smile, which honestly gave you a bitter aftertaste. Steve’s eyes followed you out the gym, Shelly’s words falling on deaf ears as his own thoughts were too loud. Had you looked back, you might have seen the concern on his face, mixed with a layer of guilt.

As you disappeared through the doors, a slow song started up behind you. With a wry smile you made your way to the bathroom, which was around the corner on the left way down the hall. The music was loud enough to hear still, though it gave a somewhat melancholic echo, which actually fit your current mood quite well. It was fine, though. You just had to survive a couple more hours and then you and Steve would never be in the same room again and you could go back to pretending your crush on him ended with high school. With the slow song in the background, you took your time in the bathroom to make sure that by the time you went back, the upbeat music had hopefully returned. You weren’t in the mood to see him dance with someone else. After washing your hands two times (you had zoned out so much you forgot about the first time), you finally left the bathroom, only to be met with a pair of hazel eyes that could be mistaken for brown in the darkness of the hallway.

“Oh, uhm, hi?” you said, a little confused. Steve was leaning against the wall across from you, arms crossed, one leg up. His thigh looked deliciously meaty like that but… That. Was. Not. The. Point.

“Hey. You keep disappearing on me,” Steve said, sounding slightly accusatory.

“That’s not fair, I waited quite a while up there,” you shot back, giving him an easy smile.

“Yeah… Ms. Tracy always has a dozen stories to tell, I honestly don’t even remember what she called me down for in the first place. Anyway, no, I meant, when you came down. You suddenly just dropped my blazer off and went? I was hoping you’d be back in time to catch a part of the slow dance song but… no sign of you. So I went to look.”

“Ah, I just didn’t want to interrupt you and Shelly, if I’m honest,” you tried to say as casually as possible.

Steve frowned and pushed himself off the wall. He hung his blazer over the radiator and took a few steps towards you. You felt the heat radiating off his body and inhaled purposefully slowly to prevent yourself from gasping. He smelled really good, too.

“What’s the deal with you constantly mentioning me and Shelly as if there’s anything happening?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

“I mean… You were the one talking about destiny. I thought I would only be in the way.”

Steve snorted and shook his head.

“Oh come on, I just meant that I can’t escape my exes. I was just grateful it wasn’t someone that hated my guts,” he said with a soft chuckle, shaking his head once more.

“She sure doesn’t,” you mumbled dryly. Steve smirked and narrowed his eyes at you.

“Wait… are you jea—”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” you quipped, nervously and a little agitated. Steve’s smile only grew wider as he closed the distance between you two.

“Oh you are. Is that why you asked for a dance?” he asked as he gently took your hands in his, which you could only comply with, “you… like me, or something?”

“Or something. I think I could actually strangle you about right now…”

“Hm? Why’s that?” 

It wasn’t really a question.

“You look way too smug for your own good.”

Steve laughed and dropped one hand to your waist, shaking his head.

“Nah, I’m just relieved it’s mutual. I really thought you were pushing me in Shelly’s direction because I had misread everything and you wanted nothing to do with me. Like, I put my hand on your leg and you brought her up instantly!”

“I was panicking! I didn’t want to get my hopes up!”

In the background, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” started playing. Steve slowly started to nudge your hips, helping you sway along with him as he pulled you against him. His smile grew softer, his touch gentler, his eyes calmer, though still a little mischievous. He opened his mouth.

“I don’t want a lot of Christmas…”

“You’re not serious,” you whispered with a soft chuckle. Steve nodded vigorously, grinning again.

“There is just one thing I need…”

You just let it happen. You couldn’t stop him, you didn’t want to stop him. He looked so pretty, so cute, so handsome as he softly sang the words to you. It was more of a low, rumbled whisper. It was perfect.

“I don’t care about the presents… underneath the Christmas tree…”

His hand dropped from your waist so his other could turn you in a gentle spin, after which he deftly caught you in his arms, your back flush against his chest. You felt his heart beating fast, not at all as calm as he made himself seem.

“I just want you for my own… More than you could ever know…”

His hand came up to push your hair to one side as his lips gently brushed the exposed part of your neck. You shivered pleasantly, craning your neck as you rested your hand on top of his around your waist.

“Make my wish come true…”

His lips deliberately pressed soft kisses along your neck now, accompanied with pleasant hums that left him. He was driving you insane.

“Steve…”

Steve shook his head, needing to finish the bit.

“All I want for Christmas… is you…”

A kiss right below your ear.

“Can I, Y/N? Can I have you?”

You wanted to turn your head to look at him but he quickly rested his chin on your shoulder so his hair would shield most of his face from you.

���Steve, I—”

“Please reject me quickly if you’re gonna do it,” Steve muttered, his voice muffled. You wondered what was going on in his brain for him to think you’d let him kiss your neck like that if you weren’t the slightest bit interested. Had you not just confessed earlier? A chuckle escaped you.

“Don’t be silly. I’m just— confused, I guess? When did you… Is this, when?”

Steve sighed, making you turn around in his arms slowly so he could face you.

“We didn’t need chaperones at all, as you may have noticed. I just… the past few dates I’ve been on were such disasters, and I’ve wanted to ask you out for a while now but I felt like I would fuck it up with a date somehow? I don’t know. And then this came up… and I thought maybe I could show more of me, in a different setting? But then everyone and their mother interrupted me all the time and you encouraged it too so I thought all hope was lost until you let me kiss your neck I guess. Am I rambling? I am rambling. God I spent too much time with Robin and Eddie.”

“Steve,” you said softly, smiling up at him.

“Yeah?” His smile matched yours, hopeful, yet still unsure. Who knew that someone like Steve Harrington could be insecure? I mean, of course, it happens, but… it was a surreal sight to witness.

“You can have me.”

Steve’s grin had never been wider.

“Oh— Good. I’m gonna kiss you now.”

And true to his words, he cupped your cheek gently with his big, warm hand, and settled his soft lips onto yours for a sweet, Christmas kiss. Hell, you didn’t even need a mistletoe.

If you enjoyed reading this, please know that comments and reblogs are highly appreciated :) Likes are lovely but sadly do nothing to spread the fics around! Help your favorite writers (not saying me - in general) out like that so you can continue to enjoy consuming the free work they put out, it's a win-win.

[junnieverse]

KISS AND TELL ➳ C. SOOBIN

➙ synopsis: you and soobin had been best friends for as long as you could remember and during the course of your friendship you developed a crush on him. Could confessing be the right way to go?

pairing: choi soobin x gn!reader

genre: fluff, best friends to lovers au

word count: 1.3k

warnings: not proofread so there may be a few typos I didn't notice.

"(Y/N)!!"

Not failing to recognise the voice, your door was busted open as Soobin excitedly ran into your room and leaped on top of you disrupting your once peaceful relaxation in bed.

"Geez Soob, you're so heavy dude." you groan in pain feeling his weight on you as he laughed.

Choi Soobin had been your best friend for the past eight years and over the time you managed to developed a small, tiny, itsy bitsy HUMONGOUS crush on him.

I mean who could possibly blame you, Soobin was adorable, funny, had the cutest chubby cheeks, pretty eyes, tall, handsome and had such a caring heart.

Just perfect.

"I just missed my best friend." he said giving you a tight hug not moving in the slightest no matter how much you tried pushing him off of you.

"Okay, now get off before I tickle you." you tell him still attempting to use all your strength to get him to let go.

"Say it back now or I'm not moving," he interjected as he lifts his head sticking his tongue out at you teasingly.

Feeling your cheeks heaten up at the close proximity you were both in, you mentally debate whether or not to say it back but decide to rather stay quiet having secretly enjoyed this affectionate side of his.

"So we're just gonna stay and cuddle like this?" you ask shyly as he nods with his head laid between the crook of your neck.

"Not unless you say it back, unless you didn't miss me," he tells you.

"Well ofcourse I missed you... now get off," you admit to which Soobin chuckles holding onto you even closer.

"No I'm good, it's more comfortable this way," he teases you as you only sigh in response.

It was the things like this Soobin did that made your heart want to beat right out of your chest.

He wasn't even actively flirting with you and yet he had you wrapped right around his finger.

You then slowly reached out your one hand to gently massage his head since you knew how much he enjoyed those and you both stayed laying in bed that way enjoying the comfortable silence.

Using your other free hand to busy yourself on social media, you soon found yourself scrolling through Tiktok and came across one challenge in particular which caught your attention.

'Kiss your best friend challenge'

You had seen a few people doing this challenge all over your feed, some being successful whilst others... weren't.

What was crazy was the fact that you were actually considering trying this with Soobin.

I mean there's absolutely no possible way he would even kiss back, all you were to Soobin was his best friend of many years and despite being happy with that title, you knew you wanted more out of it too.

Seemingly lost in thought, you're brought back to reality feeling Soobin poke your cheek.

"You okay? You zoned out for a good minute there," he asks poking your cheek again playfully as he showed his infamous dimpled smile.

"Huh? Oh uh, yeah, I'm okay Binnie. Just thinking." you tell him smiling softly to not worry him.

Could you ever really confess to him?

This challenge could either make or break your relationship with Soobin and you weren't sure you were ready to take that grand leap of faith that could change everything between you both.

Be it for the good or bad.

Honestly the logical side of you was saying no but your heart and intuition was saying you had to take the risk to see results.

And that's what you were going to do.

"Hey Soobin?" you called out to him as he hummed in response.

"Could I try this Tiktok with you?"

"What's the challenge?" he asks curiously sitting up as you did the same.

Setting up your ring light to use as a tripod, you then set the phone in front of where he was seated.

"Don't worry. You just need to sit next to me and look pretty like always."

You proceeded to set the timer and countdown and waited for the music.

Making your way back to him, you sit down next to Soobin and he awkwardly smiled looking at you signalling to ask what is going on.

The music started playing and you held Soobin's hands placing them around your waist as he looked at you completely confused.

"Here we go," you mumbled under your breath.

When the timing was right, you gently placed your hands on his face and leaned in to kiss him.

Just as you were prepared to pull away and deal with the rejection you were left baffled when he kissed back!

Smiling into the kiss, you felt his grip tighten around your waist as he laid you down on the bed hovering over you to deepen the kiss.

You then realise what just happened and pull away and jolt up from your position in the bed as your eyes widen in pure shock.

"W-what in the world just happened..." you mumbled to yourself as your fingers gently touched your lips.

Looking over at Soobin who was turning as red as a tomato, you excitedly hug him as he hugged you back.

Pulling away, you let out a deep breath before confessing, "I like you Soobin... a lot."

"I like you too (Y/n)... a lot." he tells you shyly as you both laugh at the turn of events.

Maybe making the Tiktok wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"How about I take you out on a real first date soon? But before that, I have a suprise for you in the kitchen." He says sheepishly smiling as he looks down.

How can someone this big be so adorable, he's such a baby.

"Well what are we waiting for then, let's go."

He then crouched in front of you and usually someone would be suprised at this but Soobin sometimes enjoyed carrying you on his back.

You then hopped on his back holding on tightly and went on your way to the kitchen.

Soobin then sat you down on the counter as he proceeded to then open the oven and showed you the tray of bread rolls.

"You made those?" you ask as the whiff of the freshly made bread hit your nose

"Yep, and obviously it wouldn't be fun to eat them alone so I thought we could enjoy them together." he says looking proud of how his baked goods turned out.

He looked through one of the cabinets searching for plates and he got two out so you could both evenly share the rolls.

You both casually conversed enjoying the bread Soobin had made and before you knew it, your plate had been cleared.

In all fairness Soobin did an amazing job, it all tasted amazing.

Although it did seem like Soobin had one left...

Slowly maneuvering your hand onto the plate whilst he wasnt paying any attention, you stole his bread roll and ran into your bedroom as he chased closely behind you managing to catch up.

"Yah! I know you stole my last bread roll!" he yelled as he tackled you trying to tickle you in an effort to get his bread.

Finally giving in, you gave Soobin his bread as you laid in bed trying to calm yourself down from all the intense laughing.

He broke the bread in half giving you a piece and he playfully rolled his eyes as you thanked him.

Placing a quick kiss to his cheek you watched him redden in suprise and you couldn't help but laugh at his reaction.

"I'm glad you did that Tiktok challenge." he says pulling you closer.

"Yeah?"

"Because now I can actually kiss you whenever I want."

Nodding in agreement you finally closed the gap between each other feeling his soft lips on yours once again.

This was a feeling you would definitely never get used to.

And it was all thanks to a Tiktok challenge.

All you had to do was kiss and tell

[featguler]

their own thing ────── brahim tries knocking some sense into you.

⌗ pairing : federico valverde x reader ⌗ tags : reader's gender, ethnicity, nationality, and appearance is not specified. reader is friends with brahim—dare i say, they're best friends. NOT PROOFREAD ignore any grammatical errors!!!! ⌗ wordcount : 880 ⌗ notes : something for good luck for tonight's match!! good luck bous i love you all but i love you most valverde <3 title and quote from gracie abram's in between, this fic is also based on the song!! ♡ masterlist.

“Do it!”

“No!”

Brahim groans, letting his body fall back into the cushion as you snuggle your back comfortable on the other side of the couch.

Let’s just say that the two of you have had too much to drink that night, celebrating a particularly tough win, are a little bit tipsy, and fully laughing at whatever stupid shit the other decides to bring up.

And of course, the topic of you and Valverde—Federico, as you and Brahim both address him—comes into your conversation.

Because, how can he not be the hot topic around?

Brahim is proud of himself, often can be found boasting about how perfect the two of you seem together. He saw the vision—the invisible red string connecting you and Federico from one ring finger to the other. He was, naturally, the one to set up the simple three-people brunch, cancelling his half at the last minute; he was also the one encouraging Federico to send you a text after, and the one who urged  you to delete all those stupid dating apps filled with men barely over their previous lover.

And though you kind of—kind of—are grateful for Brahim’s involvement in trying to brighten up your stagnant love life, it can be embarrassing for you. You definitely do not appreciate it most times. Maybe because you and Federico are technically not together yet.

It doesn’t even feel like anything.

You’ve got a huge, fat, heavy crush on Real Madrid’s midfielder, and you aren’t even sure if he likes you back.

Brahim thinks you’re an idiot—but, really, when has he not thought that you’re an idiot?

“Okay,” he fishes his phone out of his left pocket. “I’ll give him a call, and” —

“No!” You jump—attempt to, at least—out to Brahim, but he raises his hand so that you can’t reach to snatch the phone away from his hand.

— “you’ll see! And you’ll see what I’m saying!”

You flop back to your previous position, rolling your eyes as a hiccup escapes your lips, your eyes travelling to the other side of the room.

There Federico is, laughing amongst people you mostly don’t know, looking more handsome under the dim lighting of the pub than you have ever seen him, his hair still tainted in white after dying them a few months back for winning the Champions League. Maybe it’s the alcohol in your system, trying to compel your mind into braving yourself to step into his vicinity and sweep him away, but once you look at him, you cannot look away.

Just as Brahim lets out a laugh, you can see Federico feeling his phone vibrate on the island. He turns it over to see who is calling, and presses on the mute button, placing it back on the cold surface.

“Dick,” Brahim elbows your torso and you try wiggling away from him. “Your turn.”

“This is stupid,” you mutter, this time fishing out your phone with a groan. You watch Federico, your vision blurring as you chug down the shot on the floor table before you.

Clicking on his name on your contact list, you see him visibly sighing, and you bite your lower lip. He follows the same step as he did: flipping the phone over, and scanning the name of this caller.

This time, his eyes widened. You see his back straightening, his shoulder broadening, and his throat clearing. He excuses himself from the seemingly important conversation, places one hand inside of his jacket before taking the call.

Brahim’s elbow digs into your torso as his giggles turn diabolical—you raise a foot to kick his knee away from him. The heat rises, then, from the warmth of the tonic in your stomach, up to your chest, then spreading to your neck and ears and face.

“Hey,” Federico’s voice reaches over to you—you see him looking around the room, scanning the crowd for you. When he sees you, he sends you a sweet smile, his crow feet digging deep into his skin.

He looks so gentle, so sweet. Like his smile could take away any pain simmering down on your life.

“Oh, Federico,” you shoot an attempt at not stammering. “Sorry— I was about to call my mom, clicked on your name by mistake.”

Brahim clutches his knee, and then his stomach, before rolling from the couch to the floor, giggling to the back of his hand.

“Are you leaving already?”

His eyebrows furrow in confusion, and you answer with a hiccup. Federico maintains eye contact, as though not aware that Brahim is on the floor, dying with laughter when he proves his own theory right once again.

“Need a ride home?”

“No,” you shake your head, sighing in embarrassment, shooting back a shy smile.

“I didn’t drink,” he glances back at the group of people he was talking to. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

You are the first to break the held gaze, glancing down at Brahim before lightly kicking the small of his back. Brahim turns to you, his eyes glazed with tears from laughing too much at his victory.

“If you insist…”

You take a deep breath, blowing it out softly before glancing back up, meeting his eyes exactly where they were when you left them.

“Alright. Sure. Why the hell not.”

[arminreindl]

Mekosuchus

My recent-most Wikipedia deep dive was in equal parts enlightening and frustrating and it concerned no other than Mekosuchus, everyones favourite heartbreaker of a recently extinct crocodile.

For those unfamiliar, let me give you some footnotes before getting into the nitty gritty. Mekosuchus is, or was, a genus of terrestrial (NOT ARBOREAL) dwarf crocodile from Australasia, first appearing during the Late Oligocene. They were small, how small we don't precisely know but its generally estimated that adults would be in the 1-2 meter range (so about 3 to 6 feet I believe?). The heartbreaking part? The last confirmed Mekosuchus died out only 3.000 years ago, and some publications even suggest they could have stuck around until just 1.700 years ago. Yeah, we got REALLY close.

Art by yours truly, I'll explain the massive difference down below, just be patient.

But lets get some of the basics out of the way. Mekosuchus was a small mekosuchine crocodilian and currently, four species are recognized. Mekosuchus whitehunterensis is the oldest from the Oligocene/Miocene of mainland Australia, immediately succeeded by M. sanderi during the Miocene. Both these species were described as having had blade-like posterior teeth (at the back of the jaw) and both coexisted with a ton of other crocs, including Baru, Quinkana and some bizarre ones like Ultrastenos.

After a bizarre break in the fossil record, Mekosuchus shows up again during the Holocene on the islands of New Caledonia and Vanuatu, ironically mirroring the meiolaniid turtles I talked about previously. Fossils are securely dated to about 3.000 years ago, but Balouet and Buffetaut also suggested that some of the younger remains may only be 1.720 years old, overlapping with human settlements. But this isn't accepted by everyone. Regardless, these species differ from their older cousins by lacking the blade-like teeth, instead going for crushing dentition.

Art by artbyjrc and Kahless28

With such different teeth comes different ecology, of course. A 2015 study suggests that the neck vertebrae of M. whitehunterensis were well adapted to rapid stresses, specifically caused by side-to-side movement of the head. It is thus speculated that they shook their heads to strip meat from carcasses, rather than performing the iconic death roll (as that might hurt the animal on land).

M. inexpectatus meanwhile was seemingly better adapted at crushing hard-shelld things, crabs, insects, maybe snails even. Holt and colleagues suggest that it might have lived much like a modern dwarf crocodile, spending its time in river streams and coming out at night to forage. Dwarf crocodile via the San Diego Zoo and Mekosuchus illustrated by my friend BatmanelVisigodo

Both however are thought to be terrestrial, having short, altirostral skulls, big eyes and nares that face sideways, not upwards as in semi-aquatic crocodilians. They were however NOT ARBOREAL. Yes I know I know, its a bummer. To those unaware, a commonly cited missconception is that Mekosuchus was a tree-dweller, which was originally suggested by Paul Willis in the 1990s. However, this was more of an off-hand comment at the time that certain people (including me in the past) have run with, causing it to spread and be almost considered fact by some. Hell, it says a lot when Mekosuchus, in many circles, is thought of as "that tree croc". However, not only was Willis suggestion based on the now outdated notion that monitor lizards weren't around at the same time, later authors also note that the toes of Mekosuchus really don't show any adaptations to climbing specifically. So alas, it would seem that this was only a myth. But don't worry too much, sometimes crocs climb regardless, just not vertically up a tree. Mekosuchus artwork by Manusuchus

Now at the beginning I teased that there's a reason why my images for M. whitehunterensis and M. inexpectatus look so different. Well its kind of painful really. Despite being known for about 30 years now, with 300+ bones known from New Caledonia alone, Mekosuchus is incredibly poorly studied. The original description only figured around half a dozen bones and while the next three species were all named in the span of just 5 years, they are all incredibly fragmentary. And then, just after another expedition collected more bones....things went silent.

The last 20 years saw the publication of only a single paper extensively dealing with Mekosuchus itself, with two skull reconstructions coming out in less detailed sources. The first is Holt et al. 2007, a powerpoint presentation from a paleontological conference. The presentation made some fascinating claims and even provided a reconstruction of the skull, but sadly. Nothing ever came of it, the research was never formally published and the lead author has since then changed fields into Astronomy. Actually had a nice talk with him earlier today. Then there's Scanlon 2014, which offers even less. In the book  Carnivores of Australia: past, present and future, Scanlon briefly touches upon mekosuchines, featuring a new composite reconstruction of M. whitehunterensis. However, this is not elaborated on in the text, despite the drastic differences to how M. inexpectatus has been reconstructed before. So we are left with two very different appearances. Are they simply really different looking species? Is one interpretation faulty? Should Mekosuchus be split? Who knows, might be a while until we figure it out. But until then, here's the two together, one looking much like a dwarf crocodilian, the other more like a sebecid. An interesting contrast for sure.

As per usual, this research was done as part of me doing a major haul of a Wikipedia page which you can read here Mekosuchus - Wikipedia. It's been an interesting, if a little frustrating task, but it was fun properly reading up on this animal and putting this information out there for people that don't wanna dig through 30 years of literature (including one paper in French). Hopefully I suceeded, at least the page is a bit bulkier now.

[canyoufucksoniccharacters]

It's time.

Alright, this is gonna be a long one. Not only am I covering the canon, mainline game Sonic, but his offshoots as well. Specifically, I will be covering Sonic in the mainline games, the Paramount movie version, Sonic Prime, and a tiiiiiiny tiny little itty bit of Archie. IDW is, from what has been implied as of the past about year and a half, canon; and it will be treated as such (with some caution, of course.), so it's not going to be handled separately.

Let's do this.

Alright, let's start as early as absolutely possible. There have been several, several statements regarding Sonic's age; the earliest of which was courtesy of our good old friends over at...

There would be a certain (mildly loud) funny video here, but Tumblr's weird barely present copyright protection probably kicked in. Anyways...

In the Sonic The Hedgehog cartoon, also known as SatAM, we get 2 tidbits of information. In the 2-part special called Blast From The Past, we see that Sonic and Sally are about the same age, both being kids of just about equal maturity. Later, in episode 24, Sally states that her age is 16. So, far as we could tell, Sonic was 16, or around that range. Now, we know that these cartoons aren't canon, but they definitely did have an influence over the canon of the series. Fun fact for you, Sonic's love of chili dogs was made up by the cartoons, and later adopted during the modern era by the games. Ain't that neat?

Chili dog related tangent aside, this was the only source we had for Sonic's age at that point. I've seen some say that he was stated to be 15 in the manual for Sonic 2, but upon trying to verify that claim I came empty-handed. The manual does mention Tails being 8, but no mention of Sonic's age as far as I could tell; and the same goes for every other Classic Series game. Except for...

Sonic Jam, the Sonic game absolutely no one cares about! In part because it's not much more than a game compilation and tech demo that served as the stepping stone for Sonic Adventure 1. Sonic Jam includes profiles for Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman. This is in both the Japanese and English version, and both contain ages for the characters! Tails is listed as 8, Knuckles as 15, and Eggman as "??" or Unknown, in the case of the English version.

This brings us to Sonic, who I will be using the Japanese profile for.

The part that says "年令" translates to "Age". So, here it says that Sonic ranges between 15 and 16... Whatever that means. In the English version, it just says 15. Either way, all these make sense for these games. Sonic's characterization back in the day was all in on the rebellious teenager angle, an effort to give him an air of edge and coolness that other platforming mascots didn't have, which did admittedly win people over during the heat of the console wars! Sonic was absolutely huge when the series was new, to a degree that other mascots just couldn't match up to. Of course, that dropped off over time, but that's a discussion for another day, and not on this blog. This blog is about gay sex, not the videogame industry.

So, Sonic is either 15 or 16, most likely 15. All is good here, everything lines up, other than maybe the fact that Amy was listed as 8 in the Sonic CD manual, but that's probably fine considering back then her crush on Sonic was treated as a one-sided admirer type thing, rather than an actual romantic interest (That was usually reserved for Sally in media that actually cared about that kinda thing, anyways.)

So, fast forward to the Dreamcast; Sonic gets a redesign! Longer limbs, green eyes, and overall less chibi-like and seemingly more mature appearance. So, you would assume he's older, right? After all, him an everyone else around him got the same treatment, except for Eggman who... Seemingly just became a smidge more realistic. A smidge, anyways. You can only be so realistic being shaped like Gru.

Well... Yeah! It would look like it, since no further statements about his age were made, and in the Archie comics, they actually aged him up a year to justify his change in design. Archie isn't canon, obviously, but it shows the direction that was taken; as the players aged, so did Sonic, no matter how much people got up in arms about the green eyes for some strange reason.

... And then Sonic Heroes came along.

Perfectly fine game, mind you! One of the more polarizing ones, sure, and some of the writing could have been a smidge better (specially on Amy's side of things), but overall not really anything egregious. But for our sake... This hellspawn was born.

Ah, the Sonic Heroes US manual. The root cause of incredibly stupid Sonic shipping discourse; as well as the really, really inaccurate Sonic Channel ages.

All vitriol aside, let's look at what it has to say about our blue blur.

... 15? Really? When our previous estimate was also 15-16? Are you actually telling me Sonic 1 to Heroes all happened within less than a year? Amy got aged up from 8 to 12, which... Either age would be a bit concerning considering they're still pushing the whole romantic interest thing, one-sided as it may still be. That aside, it makes no logistical sense for Sonic to still be 15 after he's literally physically shown to be older.

On top of that, this same manual ages Espio down from 17 (In the Chaotix manual) to 16, and Vector up from 16 to 20. Vector I can believe, but uh. Aging down isn't exactly a thing that most people do.

What's worse, this age was then listed in the official Sonic Channel website... Even after they made a game where the first thing you see is Sonic celebrating his birthday. Meaning he had to have been 14 before that game to stay 15, which is contradictory to say the least. Additionally, there's a potential time gap of 5 months between SA2 and Heroes, only ever referenced in the Playstation 3 PSN release of Sonic Heroes.

This age was never once modified, even after Sonic Forces' 6 month timeskip, meaning Sonic had a birthday party, was locked up for 6 months, and somehow didn't age a year during all that. Nor after the several infrastructure-demolishing incidents such as an entire city being flooded and wrecked, the planet being shattered into pieces, among others.

And you wanna know something funny? In Sonic Generations, Classic Sonic is explicitly stated to be Sonic from the past, which checks out considering how he behaves less maturely and is proportionally much smaller. And then in 2015, the Classic Sonic style guide comes out.

15.

15.

15.

Somehow. Some. Fucking. How. Classic Sonic is listed as 15... While Modern Sonic is listed as 15 too. Oh, Amy is also listed as 12, by the way. Despite that being her (ALLEGED) age in Sonic Heroes.

Unless they're from different universes or something, there's no way-

OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE

Yeah, so, Sonic Forces released 2 years after that guide. And it tried, emphasis on tried, to retcon Classic Sonic into being an entirely separate character. This was, however, later undone by Sonic Origins both re-establishing the Classic games as taking place in the past, on top of a TailsTube episode saying as such; that Classic Sonic is, indeed, from the past. It's even stated that Modern Sonic is who Classic Sonic grew up to be!

IDW doesn't make our job any easier, either. This is information from when the Tangle & Whisper story was ongoing;

However... I'd take it with a grain of salt, as it's from before IDW was considered canon, and back when Sega was much more strict on the mandates and what they did and didn't allow in Sonic media. Plus, this was still the age listed on Sonic Channel, before they removed it.

Oh yeah, that. Why don't we talk about that?

On October of 2022, all the ages on Sonic Channel were removed.

This... Was a good move. SonAmy is still being pushed ever so very slightly, with Amy's crush still being present in a recent short even if she's much more mature about it now, which would make their age difference less than ideal. On top of that, the ages really just didn't line up chronologically speaking.

So, where does that leave us now?

In this interview, Takashi Iizuka is asked about Sonic's age; to which he responds that "He's a teenager."

"Teenager" is a bit of a loose definition, probably on purpose. Generally speaking, the range for teenager ranges from anywhere to 13-19, to 13-21 depending on who you ask. Some people make the cutoff at 18, though that's almost never done when it comes to scientific material.

So, let's recap. Sonic is still considered a teenager, but he's always been considered one, all the way back from the Classic series. So, we can safely assume Classic isn't 15; either that, or he was, and the modern series takes place during anywhere from 2-6 years, which I could believe. Either way, he's at minimum about 13-14, as he's a younger version of Sonic who hasn't hit a growth spurt yet.

Then, we have anywhere from 1 to 2 canon birthdays for Sonic, depending on whether you count Runners as canon or not (which I would admittedly not at all fault you for not considering it canon, considering it's a mobile game; and a discontinued one at that), as well as a 6-month timeskip during Forces, potential 5-month timeskip during Heroes (which isn't the most unbelievable proposition or anything, considering it would be a bit weird if Shadow was presumed dead only to show back up like a week later), and a bunch of events that have caused severe structural damage to key locations in the world, namely during Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Adventure 1 as the 2 biggest examples. Oh, and Sonic Forces throwing absolutely everything into disarray on a seemingly global scale, which would take quite a bit of time to be fixed, specially considering that's still an ongoing process in IDW.

On top of all this, it's outright shown that these things don't just happen every week or whatever, things happen off-screen, characters get time off to do their own stuff, and from the looks of it, Murder Of Sonic The Hedgehog is canon, as nothing there conflicts with canon and it's officially endorsed. Which means WE HAVE YET ANOTHER FUCKING BIRTHDAY PARTY, FOR AMY THIS TIME.

Further proving the point i just stated, let's look at the geographical Prison Island. This is what it looks like in Sonic Adventure 2.

A big, mechanical prison complex made out of nothing but cold hard metal. Filled with robots, not a single trace of nature in sight. Said nature however is not too far from these military bases, though! These forests are also on the island.

So, these are the two main parts of Prison Island. Abundant nature, and military facilities. There's very little difference once the story progresses further, though, as the island...

Fucking explodes. (Clip from Sonic Adventure 2 Real-Time Fandub. Credit to SnapCube.)

So, why is this relevant? Well, we revisit this location in Shadow The Hedgehog! The game, not the guy.

As we can see, there is no longer any difference between nature and construct. The base has been completely abandoned, and overtaken by the nearby forests, with greenery sprouting all over it. Now, it's not impossible that plant life in the Sonic series grows a bit faster than real plants, but methinks that an entire military base doesn't get overtaken by nature this hard within a month. There's entire new trees, grass and plants growing all over what was previously pavement, not even the walls are safe! Every single area is either covered in toxic waste, plant life, or both. Plant life that, again, needs time to grow. So there's likely a pretty big chunk of time between Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow The Hedgehog, even though they're only separated by 1 game, Sonic Heroes.

Add that to the many many reasons these things can't just happen on a week by week basis! On to my next point...

No, proportions don't really mean anything in terms of age. Sure, Vanilla is quite big, and so are the conductor and his wife, but Rouge is undoubtedly an adult and her proportions are more or less the same as everyone else. So all they help distinguish is between children (Tails, Cream) and non-children. In this exact screenshot we see that Vanilla is much taller than rouge, almost being at eye level with each other despite Rouge sitting on an elevated surface, while Vanilla is standing. This height difference is also present in the games, although we rarely get to see them next to each other.

So, all this taken into account, the fact Sonic has been a teenager since the Classic series, the fact there's been a few timeskips and at least 2 birthdays, several events that would need some time to recover from, specially with a still-ongoing recovery process after Forces, the fact Elise is allegedly 17 in 06 (which would make her whole romantic subplot with Sonic even more uncomfortable than it already is by default if he was any younger than say, idk about 16 years old at the least), among many other reasons that I may have forgotten to mention, the chances of Sonic being 15, hell, even 16 are very, very slim. At the very least, he's got to be about 17, and he could honestly be as old as 19 or 20 (depending on whether Iizuka meant he's of adolescent age or a teenager).

So, if you do still view Sonic as a minor, that's perfectly fine, and honestly believable; but with all these facts stacked up, as time goes on, it will be less and less likely that him being underage will be a real possibility. This isn't the Pokemon anime. There's actual structure, lore, and a proper sense of scale; and something like Sonic's age being frozen at 15-16 just wouldn't make any sense.

All this to say, Sonic is, most likely, no longer a minor. There's some wiggle room where he could be one, but 18-19 is the most likely option, specially considering how Frontiers was comfortable with pitching his voice down. Yes, it was for the sake of the game's tone, but Tails's voice for example didn't have that much of a difference to it, because he's a child and it would be weird for a character to sound so much older than they actually are- and this goes for Sonic too.

So, in conclusion, after extensive analysis and every source I could find for Sonic's age taken into account;

You can, most likely, fuck Sonic The Hedgehog.

...

BUT IT'S NOT OVER YET.

We need to take both his other iterations into consideration, as well as address characters whose fuckability status depends on him. First, the alternative versions.

Movie Sonic

This one's a kid. On top of acting much more immature and inexperienced, outright described as irresponsible- hell, Tom even says "Whether you wanna hear this or not, you're still just a kid. You've got some more growing up to do before you're ready to be the big hero". He acts like a kid, is referred to as a kid, and hell, it makes sense, the movies so far have adapted Sonic 1-3&K, the games where Sonic was still just starting out his adventures.

Prime Sonic

This one's... More uncertain. He's definitely quite immature and inexperienced; though he feels more... Reckless than anything else. More of an attitude problem than an age problem, really, considering how Amy and Shadow act, two characters who should be about the same age as him, but that act much more maturely for the most part.

This one's pretty up in the air, I'd say, considering how Prime seems to be comfortable having their own versions of the cast (going by how different Shadow seems to be and how he has seemingly no attachment to Rouge, who is one of the people he trusts the most in canon).

Oh yeah, I haven't watched season 3 yet, but I doubt it changes much of anything about this judgement.

THE SONIC-DEPENDENT ONES

THE ROBOT SONICS

While they're all likely able to consent (... Okay, Mecha MK. 1 is a bit more dubious on whether it's sapient), it would probably be unethical to fuck something that's made to look like someone who's a minor. While they were made when Sonic was definitely a minor, he isn't one anymore, and the resemblance is still there to pretty much the exact same degree, so there's really no ambiguity here.

You can fuck them. Go ham, robot-fuckers.

SCOURGE

Look, we're not covering the mess that Archie can be. But from what I gather, Sonic is, at most, 17 pre-SGW. And this is just an alternate version of that Sonic, who likely didn't go through all the uber weird shit that makes Archie Sonic's age a nightmare to deal with. So, no, unfortunately for a lot of you, you probably can't fuck Scourge. Fortunately, though...

SURGE

Surge's age is, according to this post by IDW artist and writer Evan Stanley, around Sonic's age. So, what goes for the hedgehog goes for the Tenrec, you can most likely fuck her. Go ham.

... Elise?

She was 17 during 06, and some time has passed since then, and it would be weird if she had any bigger of an age gap with Sonic, plus plenty of time has passed since 06, so... I guess you can? I don't see why you would, but power to you, I suppose. Can't judge.

MIGHTY AND RAY

These two have been here since SegaSonic The Hedgehog in the arcades, which happens even before Sonic 2 does! Ray is never once really implied to be young, no matter how much he may seem like Mighty's Tails equivalent (Which... He's not meant to be. He was made before Tails.), and he's most likely about even with Mighty, who is most likely the same age as Sonic, seeing how they're meant to be parallels (down to Sonic's sprites being rehashed for his sprites in Chaotix), and the Japanese manual for Knuckles' Chaotix listing him as 16.

They're here mostly because Mighty is a partial Sonic counterpart, and Ray tends to be anywhere that Mighty goes these days, so they might as well be treated as a package deal.

So, yes, you can most likely fuck them... Even if we have absolutely no idea what their modern versions look like. Seriously, where the hell have they been? At least we know they're fine, considering it's been stated that they're off on their own adventures these days.

Aaaand... That's it! That's all the Sonic-dependent characters I could think of, at least ones that I think don't really merit their own posts. TL;DR

Metal Sonic, Mecha Sonic, etc: Fuckable Scourge: Unfuckable Surge: Fuckable Elise: Fuckable Mighty: Fuckable Ray: Fuckable

The "Fuckable" marks should go with an asterisk, as Sonic's status is "Most Likely Fuckable", but still.

Phew. Finally done. I've spent pretty much all goddamn day writing this. Hopefully this is useful for someone. Hopefully. God knows it'll make my job easier.

I'll just go write the alt text and go eat something, this took... Way longer than I'd like to admit. See you when the post goes up.

Go ham, you beautiful horny bastards.

Edit: Future OP here! I had to remake this post because the DIC bit earlier somehow triggered some weird copyright stuff on Tumblr, basically hiding the post from anyone who isn't directly looking at the blog. In the meantime, I added that bit about Prison Island to further add to his potential fuckability. So his margin for being a minor is even smaller now! How fun! Anyways, now I'll be seeing myself out for the time being. Thanks, and have fun.

[obislittleone]

The Winner Takes It All

Episode 11

Pairing: Finnick Odair x Tribute(OC)!Reader

Chapter Warnings: more death, more canon typical violence, literally this one is so sad idk what else to say (sassy and protective finnick from the capitol)

Chapter Summary: The numbers are dwindling down, and allies are falling from every side of the competition. Meanwhile, Finnick is struggling with the Capitol citizens.

Word Count: 5.4k

i launched my fashion brand yesterday at an event, not that anyone cares lmaooo (if you do care please follow @houseofaven on instagram!!!)

“It’s the girl, right?”  Finnick didn’t really know what to say. She’d cornered him with nothing he could say. Should he even say anything at all? Or just remain silent? Turns out, even if he doesn’t say a word, this recent victor has a way of showing him just how much she already knows. 

You’d cried, and cried some more. You cried your heart out and felt like you’d reached the limit of spent tears for the rest of your life. Of course, you didn’t necessarily think your life would last too much longer, now. There were six tributes remaining, and you were positive that everyone else in the arena was more worthy of the win. You’d probably be the next to go. 

You’d finally fallen asleep, arms wrapped tightly around the person who’d been the first to hold you since it happened. Rodey stayed still, his arms around you in a comforting grip, one hand smoothing over the unruly strands of your hair. It had originally been in a complicated and neat braid, but after a few days of running and hiking and falling into water, it didn’t look quite as good as it probably did originally. 

Lukas sat and watched with pity, his best friend who seemingly was stronger than any trial she faced, having to be comforted so deeply by someone she barely knew. But he understood, Rodey had a fancy for her, and was happy to see that it held up in her time of need. He hoped that the extent of his fast feelings would go further than to just comfort you, though. 

“I don’t get it. Copelin and Freeda died, too. She didn’t shed a tear…” Rodey whispered, only loud enough for Lukas to hear. Rodey was supposed to be sleeping, too. He was supposed to take the next watch before the morning, which would be yours, but he couldn’t stop the thoughts from swirling in his mind. He didn’t ever think that his hunger games tribute crush would amount to anything, because it literally could not. But here he was, letting her cling to him as if she were wet clothes on his back. 

“She feels guilty for Lyra,” he explained. He knew your heart, and the things you put yourself through sometimes on the account of other people. You’d been bullied as a kid for your stutter, and somehow you’d thought it was actually your fault. You were the one with a speech impediment, they wouldn’t be making fun of you if you didn’t have it. That mentality shook him to his core many times in his life. It’s why he’d struck up that first conversation, all those years ago. To try and know you, to understand that there was a person behind the botched up sentences. 

“It wasn’t her fault.”

“I know. It’s just how she thinks.”

“She has to know that it could’ve been any of us, right? It’s not like Lyra sacrificed herself…” Rodey didn’t seem to be getting the point in Lukas’ words. Didn’t seem to understand that you didn’t feel guilty about the snake. 

“That’s not it,” Lukas sat forward, his eyes raking over your slowly breathing form before shaking his head a bit. “She feels guilty that after the venom started, she couldn’t stop it.” 

“She tried. Lyra didn’t want her to.”

“Yeah.”

Rodey was still confused. You weren’t responsible for the girl’s death in any way, so why, when you’d shown her extreme mercy, did you find fault in yourself? You should be proud that you didn’t let her suffer, that you didn’t cause her more pain and anguish in the last moments she had left. 

“The snake bit Lyra, but Mercedes let the venom kill her.”

And then Rodey understood. He sat in silence for a second before prying just a bit, only since she wasn’t awake to hear.

“How long have you known her?” He asked, his brow furrowed from curiosity.

“Nine years, maybe ten. It’s been a while, we met as kids.” 

And in those nine, maybe ten years, he’d learned more about you than any other person possibly could. In those years, during the trials of not only childhood, but nearing adulthood, where he’d become in tune to your emotions, he almost felt them with you. He was the greatest friend you’d ever known, and he loved you as such. 

“I won’t ever understand how you spent that much of your life with her, and never fell in love,” he said jokingly, only, it was partly true. He’d been thinking about it since that first conversation about you in the cave. 

“I think I did, once. When we were fourteen, she had a crush on this one guy… total douchebag, by the way,” Lukas laughed, thinking back to that time. You’d been head over heels for a boy simply because he spoke to you. He didn’t treat you well, but he did interact with you, which was a rare sight to see outside of Lukas himself. “She asked me how to impress him, what other guys like, stupid stuff like that.”

“And did you tell her?” 

“Of course I did. I wanted to help her,” he paused again, looking over at you and remembering those feelings, now long gone and replaced with a friendly love for you. “She tried on this one dress she had, thinking maybe he’d notice her more. She started spinning around her room and acting like some sorta crazed wind turbine.”

Rodey laughed, too. He could picture you, your sweet smile and wonderful personality showing through as you spun around in your favorite sundress. He imagined it was a light blue, or maybe a sea foam green with white lace around the edges. Either way, you were probably beautiful in it. It’s a shame he’ll never see you wear one.

“I just sat on her bed and watched her. I thought then that maybe we’d grow up and I’d marry her or something… but then we got older and she started arguing with me about things I didn’t even realize needed an argument.”

“So she’s a fighter after all,” Rodey replied, slightly surprised by the change in tune. It didn’t seem possible, because you seemed all too gentle natured to argue with anyone. 

“Not really, I usually won every argument. The point is, I loved her too much as a friend to even take a chance, and after a while, I guess those feelings wore off.”

The boy across from him nodded, careful not to wake you up. He tried to shift in place, but wouldn’t dare move any further if he felt you stirring. 

There were a few moments of silence before Rodey started back in. 

“Truth be told, I think she’s the first person I’ve ever met that I’ve felt this way for. The girls in my district are these beautiful, amazing creatures that are practically skilled from the time they exit the womb… the thing is, career girls don’t exactly have a finity for career boys until they become victors. Makes it kind of hard for us to even try.”

“You’re kidding,” now it was Lukas’ turn to be shocked. A tall, handsome, dashing boy like Rodey never received any female attention from his district? Now, that was something to hear. He almost didn’t believe it. 

“I’m absolutely serious. They think we’re stupid and brutish and whatever else,” he rolled his eyes, circling back to his last comment. “Now, I mostly agree with them… but even still.”

“It’s like they can sense they’re smarter than us,” Lukas joked, squinting his eyes towards you, fast asleep in Rodey’s arms. 

“The girl I came here with, Estelle… She's just about as stoic as they come. She’s here to win, and honestly, I just hope someone else takes her out before we have to.”

“You’d want her dead before us?” Lukas was taken a bit off guard, but wasn’t too surprised by his statement. Estelle seemed like a hardass, and he had no intention of trying to fight her. He knew he’d lose. He didn’t want you to be in that position, either. 

Rodey shrugged, his face indifferent to the girl he’d mentioned. 

“She’s not my ally anymore. She left me and the rest of the careers, why should I want her to outlast you?”

“I don’t know. Just curious, I guess.”

Rodey felt that maybe Lukas didn’t believe the extent of his affection for you. Maybe he was having a hard time believing such things could be true so fast. He wanted- no, needed to convince him.

“Listen, I know I haven’t known her long, but I do have feelings for her. I’m willing to prove it if I have to.”

Lukas didn’t want to argue with this boy. He was the best shot you and him had at staying alive another day. As long as you stayed together, you’d be the strongest alliance. You didn’t know what the other three tributes were up to, but Lukas felt that by now, Estelle and Brock from eleven had teamed up, leaving one last lonesome tribute on her own. The girl from three. 

“I asked you this already but you couldn’t answer me… are you willing to die for her?” 

Rodey smiled, looking down at you. He was a skilled tribute, and he felt he’d lived a great life thus far… but he didn’t want to watch you die in this arena just so he could make it out. Maybe you were just making him soft, but he felt that he could now answer Lukas’ question now, with great confidence. 

“I don’t think I’m getting out of here… but she might. I’d rather make it easier for her.”

Lukas didn’t know what he was expecting, but hearing it from his own lips, that he was willing to die in your place… he had quickly given respect to him as a tribute, as a fighter who would continue to labor not for himself but for her to escape. A career volunteers to win… but if he wins what then? Does he just forget about the girl he’d fallen so quickly for? How she would die so he could live? He didn’t even like thinking about it, so he put an end to it.

Lukas let this resonate with him. The boy was serious, and it seemed as though he understood that with dwindling numbers, the chances of him being next were sinking in. 

“I know I said not to tell her that you… you know,” Lukas trailed, but having regrouped his words, he started on again, his permission coming about. “But maybe you should.”

“Really?” Rodey looked at him skeptically.

“Yeah, I mean… guys haven’t ever paid her any attention. I think she’d wanna know if one finally did.”

Rodey was thankful. Not because he earned your best friend’s permission to tell you about his feelings, but because he’d earned his respect. 

It didn’t take him long after that to fall asleep with you, leaving Lukas to take watch until it was his turn. 

-

Finnick was practically pulling his hair out. These two idiots had no idea what they were doing, everytime they romanticized you, or made you out to be this ethereal being that they couldn’t help but look to for your beauty. He’d been back in the Elite Capitol Lounge, the winner’s circle, if you will… but he felt like the biggest loser there ever was. Everything he did to get you out of this arena, and now that he was almost certain you would make it, the talk of you escalated. 

Capitol men thirsted for a taste of you, longed to be near and beside you, or worse, inside you. He thought he’d been upset when he first heard the two comments of those men earlier. Now he was fuming, hearing things far nastier and without a filter. The men didn’t care that he was your mentor, or that he was hearing the perverse things they said. They said them without remorse, planning to empty their pocketbooks out onto the table to ensure your survival, just to have a taste of you. Finnick felt like throwing up several times in the night, but now his anger took him over. 

He wished he could just send a petty sponsor to Lukas, just so he could write a note that said ‘STOP TALKING ABOUT MERCEDES!’ in bold letters. He had no idea what to do, now. If you came home, and this terror was all that awaited you, he would not be able to sleep at night for the rest of his life. He would be the mentor that was selfish enough to promise himself a victor, at the cost of your physical and mental wellbeing. 

Rodey was just a kid. Lukas was just a kid. They had no idea what was happening right now, and how could they? Those boys were doing all they could to stay alive in the arena, and also doing their best to care for you. Rodey had saved you from the panther, and Lukas saved you from drowning. Today, they comforted you during the loss of an ally you felt you betrayed. They were doing everything he wishes he could do for you, and yet, he still finds reason to be angry with them. 

He listens to Rodey’s confession, that he would die for you, and an echoed response of a filthy tongued man in the room, not far from him. 

“I would die for her, too. Only if she rides me till I’m gone,” he says smugly, his tone is one of a joke, and it earns the laughter of whoever is stupid enough to be standing close by 

Finnick can’t take it anymore, and acts impulsively. He raises the glass in his hand, throwing it as hard as he can into the wall across from him, barely missing several people by doing so. His face is red and hot, and he knows he’ll explode and kill that guy if he doesn’t leave. 

He steps down to the couch his white-knit sweater rested on and grabs it, quickly rushing his walk towards the door, not even realizing he was being followed out. 

“Hey!” an aggressive shout of the elder mentor was heard behind him, and he stopped before hitting the street, turning around. Haymitch Abernathy, not quite as drunk as he usually is, even though both his tributes are dead already. “Call me crazy, but I don’t think that scene was warranted.”

FInnick scoffed, shaking his head and getting ready to walk away again. 

“I really don’t need this right now,” his hand wiped over his face, the sweat from his palm making his face a bit cooler when the wind hit against it. He needed to cool down, because he was so close to blowing up. 

“You’ve got no reason to be this upset, right now. Both your tributes are alive, and barely a scratch on em’.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, alright?” Finnick shot back, not quite sure why his feet remain still when he’d rather be back at his and Mags’ apartment, where he can stew in his misery without the looming threat of eyes constantly watching. 

“Try me,” Haymitch held his arms out, willing the younger man to explain what his outburst was all about. 

Finnick had told other victors about this before, but only because he suspected they had gone through it, too. Both Cashmere and Gloss from one had been given the same punishment as him, and for years, he’d felt they understood him. A stunningly gorgeous model of a victor from eight had also been cornered by Snow. He didn’t want to suggest Haymitch was undesirable, but being from twelve, Haymitch had started with a disadvantage, he was never a favorite of the Capitol. It was in these times, during the games themselves, in which a tribute gained popularity and status that would far outlast the final boom of the cannon.

“Do you know about Snow’s favors?” Finnick came closer to the man, and Haymitch, as clueless as he’d been before, started putting together the pieces. He might be a drunkard, but he’s for certain not an idiot.

“I’ve heard some things,” he spoke more evenly now, his sympathy growing the more he realized this wasn’t just a pathetic temper tantrum from the Capitol’s darling. “Mostly just talk, ‘bout assisting folks in the Capitol…”

“Do you know what gets you there?” 

“I can’t say that I do,” he admitted, swallowing his pride for a moment and hearing Finnick's explanation. 

The younger man directed his eyes back towards the building, where despite the broken glass still being brushed away, the party ensued with great joy and probably more whispers of how much they would like to ruin you. 

“That, in there. The things they’re saying about Mercedes, the way they think she’s some sort of object that they can use when they want to. She hasn’t even made it out of that arena yet, and they’re already making plans, getting their payments ready.”

Haymitch couldn’t even say another word. He looked to the younger man, scanning his features for what he believed to be actual concern. Something he hasn’t seen on Finnick for his tributes since… well, ever. 

The need to find out more dissipates completely as Finnick’s face heats up from his small rant. 

“Tell me again how that ‘scene’ was unwarranted.”

And with that, Finnick walked away.

-

The next morning, Johanna cornered Finnick in the lounge, handing him one of the many drinks they had been serving around. Does anyone in this place do anything else except for drink and gossip? 

“Try not to chuck that one against the wall.”

“Ha,” his sarcasm laced through his tone, but he had been grateful for the drink. 

“I’ve been counting the times you leave the couch,” she started, sitting near him, her attitude seemingly much more angry than how she had been before. “Three times. Except one of those doesn’t count, because you only stood up to get closer to the screen.”

“Today might be the last day,” he shrugged, throwing back almost all the liquor from his glass. He hated being completely sober in times of immense anxiety. 

“So then what about yesterday? Or maybe the day before?” 

He ducked his head, the screen not of any use to him while it showed the girl from district three, building some sort of contraption whilst Caesar Flickerman narrated. They all suspected it was a sort of protection device, one she could set up and not have to worry about defending herself. 

“You said it yourself, the odds are in my favor. It’s never been like this before.”

“So, who’s your pick?” 

“Excuse me?” 

She was leaning on the backrest when he turned his head to meet her stare.

“It’s the girl, right?” 

Finnick didn’t really know what to say. She’d cornered him with nothing he could say. Should he even say anything at all? Or just remain silent?

Turns out, even if he doesn’t say a word, this recent victor has a way of showing him just how much she already knows. 

“I get it. She’s kind, smart, beautiful,” she taunted, though Finnick hated hearing those words repeated to him, knowing just how much trouble it’s causing her, or will cause her. “And she helped Lyra.”

Finally, a change of subject. Lyra was a year behind Johanna. She was a friend of hers in school. A tragic loss that she chooses to cope with by gossiping among other victors, making them as uncomfortable as she constantly feels.

“I’m sorry about your tributes,” he spoke solemnly, giving her an apologetic glance. 

“I knew they weren’t going to make it.”

“Even still.”

His eyes turned back to the screen when Caesar started narrating your morning routine, waking up and eating whatever was left from yesterday’s catch. You’d also taken an apple from the small stash to keep up your energy. Smart girl. 

He watched Rodey approach you, sitting down beside your little patch against the nearest tree. Finnick knew what conversation was about to play out, and honestly, he didn’t much care to watch it… except for there had been a surprise turn of events that he wasn’t expecting.

-

You’d woken up earlier than you anticipated, and snorted a laugh when you realized that the boys had both been asleep. You weren’t sure which one was supposed to keep watch, but you’d say they did a stupendous job. You went about the early morning, the dawn of the day being a quiet reminder that yet another day had passed, and you were still here. You weren’t going to win, but already you’d made it further than you had originally planned for. Part of you thought you were going to die in the bloodbath, unwilling to kill someone else for the sake of your own life. But your allies had your back, and they still do. 

You would have died three times, had it not been for the help they had given you. You could have drowned, mauled to death, or eaten alive. Lukas, Rodey, and Lyra. They all saved you, and now one of them is gone… and it’s your fault.

You had to try not to dwell on it. You’d cried all your tears out, and today was about staying alive, not mourning those who could not. 

You didn’t eat for several hours, you wanted to wait till the boys woke up to see how you were going to be splitting and saving the rations. 

Lukas was the first to wake, having gotten a longer sleep than Rodey, still clinging to one of the backpacks you’d slipped into his arms in your place. He was a sweet boy. He was lethal, a killer of three other tributes, but still, a sweet boy. Tributes don’t have the luxury of being one or the other. Everyone in this arena has to acknowledge that, one time or another. Rodey doesn’t let it sink into his skin, though. He tried to remain happy, humorous, never taking himself too seriously. He and Lukas had gotten on better than anyone else could have expected. Lukas was a non-career tribute, but he still volunteered. That has to command the respect of the other careers, right? Except Freeda and Copelin picked on him, and Estelle straight up hated him. All for his connection to you, but even still. 

Lukas wasn’t taken seriously as a contender until the day he was scored. You still have no idea what he did to earn that perfect twelve. You had thought you’d performed as average, but the game makers thought otherwise. Your strength and skill, matched with your wit and pure imagination… That's what won you those numbers.

You thought to yourself more, wondering if you’d ever get another chance to ask those things of Lukas, or if your time was nearly up. 

You’d made peace with your death before you even entered the arena. You even tried to look for it. Now, you treasured every last second you had, waiting blissfully unaware of when the last moment would pass. 

When Rodey finally woke up, you all centered yourselves in the middle of the cornucopia, a makeshift breakfast being passed around. Leftover fish, and some of the plant food the others had scouted. You took an apple from the sack of supplies, almost gone for how little there was to begin with. You were lucky enough to have exclusive access to the cornucopia. If you hadn’t been the primary users, you felt you may have died to other causes than just being attacked, or in your strange case, drowning. 

You walked out of the centerpiece of the arena, wanting to sit under a large canopy of tree branches. As much as you detested this place, you could not help but admit, it was beautiful. You’d never seen a rainforest before. Never seen a forest before. You had lots of plant life on four, but it was mostly tropical, palm trees, common gorse, beach grass, and even seaweed that washed up nearly every morning. You missed those things. The little things that you regretted you wouldn’t see again, mostly because you took them for granted before. They had been so mundane, so ordinary, you didn’t think there was anything to miss about them.

You’d nearly finished your apple when Rodey came to sit beside you, his back against one of the trees beside your little patch on the ground. 

“M-morning to ya,” you smiled, another bite of your apple gone the next second. 

“Morning…” He seemed nervous, and tense… and awkward. He’d acted so different before, you hoped this wasn’t about bad news. “Can I talk to you?”

“Of c-course,” you replied, trying to remain genuine, though you feared what he might say to you… was the time drawing near that the tributes were going to turn on each other? Was he asking if it was okay to kill you if he had to? Maybe you should just listen to the poor kid, and stop jumping to conclusions.

“I know this might be sudden, and I know that I don’t really have any reason to be telling you this,” he chuckled under his breath, his hand reaching up to scratch his neck. 

What on earth is this about?

He seemed stuck, but you didn’t want to interrupt, so as you most of the time did, you just sat quietly, waiting for him to speak. 

“I think I might have feelings f-”

A wild scream caught both of your attention, and you turned your head to face it the second you heard. The girl from three, anger written on her face, charged towards you, causing an immediate panic. You and Rodey jumped from your sitting position, and he reached into his cargo pants pocket for his knife, holding it out. 

She’d gotten too close for you both to just back away, so you stood your ground to fight, willing to do what you needed if it was absolutely necessary. She seemed to be wielding a sort of contraption, strapped to her arm as she charged. It looked like some sort of slingshot, a tiny kunai knife inserted at the center, but you didn’t even have another second to process as she stepped towards you first. You had your knife in hand as well, raising it up in hopes of intimidation. You couldn’t kill her, but she didn’t know that… or maybe she did, because she didn’t stop. 

You were about to turn heel before Rodey stepped in front of you, his knife hitting straight through her chest. He stumbled back a bit, and you came before him to kneel down, checking to make sure the girl was completely dead. The cannon sounded momentarily after, which confirmed it for you, but when you looked down at her wrist contraption, you saw that the kunai knife was gone. 

“Mercy…” His voice was grave, and it scared you before you even turned around. 

“Rodey,” you stood back up, rushing over to him before he could collapse. His hand held his ribs, where the Kunai knife had deeply pierced through, probably into his lung. 

He sunk down against you, his breath hollow as you lowered him to the ground. 

“Lukas!” You screamed over your shoulder towards the cornucopia, hoping he would understand your great need and come quickly. 

“Mercy,” Rodey tried to speak again, a sense of urgency in his eyes. He was dying, he could feel it. “Look at me.”

“Y-you’re fine, Lukas is g-gonna help me carry y-you back, and we’ll fix y-you up.”

“No,” he smiled, he had the audacity to smile. “Just hold me here, keep looking at me.”

His voice wasn’t even solid anymore. 

“Don’t do that, y-you’re fine… Lukas!” You nearly broke your vocal chords trying to get him to hear you. In the distance you could hear him running, but he had been too far away to begin with. Your eyes welled up with tears, and your free hand tried to hold the blood from escaping his body, but the knife had gone too deep, and there was no chance of anything clotting in time. His lungs would fill up with blood in seconds, and he would die choking on it, if the intense bloodloss didn’t kill him first.

“Don’t cry,” he took your hand from his ribs, moving the red stained appendage and placing it on the side of his face instead. “Just keep looking at me.”

“I can’t, I h-have to get you help.”

“No, I don’t want help. I wanna die looking at you,” he admitted, the confession breaking your heart. Another tribute, dead under your hands. Another ally, succumbing to defeat while you stood watch, helpless to even try and save them. He didn’t want to be saved. He wanted this to be it. This was a far better death anyways. He saved you. He took the hit. He didn’t have to outlast you and watch you die, or watch your best friend die and see your pain from it. He gets to go out now, knowing he saved your life and that you had two less people to kill. 

“Why?” You cried out, shaking your head as the tears rolled fresh and freely. You didn’t understand it. You’d come to terms with your death, too… but you couldn’t understand him. He was a career, someone with a chance to win it all. But he sacrificed himself to save you.

“Because you’re pretty,” he said as though it were completely obvious. Everyone had made clear the past week how beautiful you were, but you felt you didn’t deserve the praise, Not because you felt ugly or comparable, but because you never prided yourself on it. You never looked in the mirror and felt superior by it, nor did you think it made you better than anyone else… So then why? Why did they praise your beauty? 

You think you found understanding when you looked down to him again, Lukas’ footsteps closing in behind you. You saw on his face the gratification he got just from looking into your eyes. The way you looked inspired a feeling in him that transformed into more, and you felt it, too. The attraction, the connection, the feelings. You’d drawn him in with your beauty, but he stayed for everything else about you. He could have taken off with Estelle that first day, but he stayed. He could have ditched you both when you decided to take Lyra as an ally, but he didn’t. He should have let you die in his place just now, but he saved you instead. That was the power of your beauty, unharnessed, untamed, and unforgiving. 

Your eyes became blurry with tears, and you could no longer see his face clearly, but the second the cannon sounded, you closed your eyes completely. Lyra may not have been completely your fault, but this certainly was, and his blood was covering your hands. 

“What happened?” Lukas asked, his breath harsh and unsteady as he came over your shoulder to see the scene in front of him. He knelt down, examining Rodey, having fully heard the cannon that already sounded. “Who did this?”

You couldn’t say a word, you just pointed to the girl from three. She laid dead on the ground, Rodey’s knife in her chest, right where her heart stopped beating. 

Lukas tried to pull you away, to try and gather what sense of sanity you had left, but you kept hitting his hands away, screaming and crying at him to let you go. You didn’t care that without the third member of your alliance, you were now more vulnerable. Probably the weakest in combat left in the arena. You kept clinging to Rodey’s body, holding on and unwilling to leave him yet. He’s your ally, and he didn’t ever leave you behind.

“We have to go,” he finally managed to drag you, under your arms, kicking and screaming. The scene that had been caused would alert the other tributes that they only had two more enemies to deal with. 

-

Those watching in the capitol were teary eyed, but not genuinely. To them, it was as though their favorite character just lost her beloved, never to see him again… and it made for great dramatic effect, and they loved it. 

Cashmere, one of the district one mentors, was sitting by herself in a corner, with the only other person who actually cared to be alone while watching these games right now. Finnick watched the scene play out, and it caused him great upset, not just for his tribute, but for the woman beside him. She still had a tribute left, but the care for that one seemed almost secondary. Finnick was almost certain that Rodey had been her prized tribute. The one she would have wanted to win above anything else. 

-

tags(open): @thepassionatereader @i-voluntears @secretsicanthideanymore @mystargirl-interlude @c4ttheart @lilibrn

[eryiss]

[Fraxus] Multifaceted - Part 5

Or: The 5 Times Laxus Learned of a New Skill Freed Possessed, & The 1 Time He Fell Victim To Them

Summary: For the rest of the world, it had been seven years. For the members of Fairy Tail it had all been in the blink of an eye. But, for Laxus, that was more than enough time for his closest friend to seem like an entirely new person. This self assured, competent Freed was something new to Laxus, and he found himself enjoying it. Perhaps a little too much… Note: Ohh, it’s time for emotions, backstory and flowers. Hope you enjoy it all. Links: Ao3, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

5: Floristry

"Hey, I got dinner- what the fuck?"

The apartment was filled with flowers. Every available surface had flowers over it, including a good amount of the floor, Laxus had to move around them, treading carefully not to crush any of them as he placed the takeout bag on the counter. After having to push a pile of roses to the side, of course.

Freed looked at him with a half amused, half exasperated expression. He was sitting at the table, where a selection of vases - some were filled, some not - were scattered. There were also ribbons, bows and translucent coloured plastic wraps.

"You gonna explain, or do we just live in bee paradise now?"

"That was almost funny, congratulation," Freed teased, and subsequently avoided the little bolt of lightning that flew his way. "Valentine's Day is approaching, and I'm sure Mirajane told you about her anonymous bouquet idea. Well, she's contracted an illness and apparently it falls to me to pick up the slack."

"Makes sense. Out of all the people in the guild, when I think of flowers you're the top of the list," Laxus frowned through the sarcasm. "Not any of the women who wanna have flowers, not the guy with plant magic, and not our actual teammate who had her own rose garden. No, I think of you."

"That's more or less what I said verbatim," Freed hummed. "Apparently I have an artistic and elegant soul, and that's more important than competence in the task."

Laxus wasn't going to deny that Freed's soul did seem elegant and artistic, but it wouldn't be in his best interesrts to agree with it either. He looked over the seemingly complete bouquets and hummed quietly. "They look pretty good for someone without any competence. You getting into it?"

"I like working with my hands, this is a form of that," Freed shrugged. "And I suppose it brings back memories of my father. He was a florist."

Laxus halted, and didn't turn to look at Freed no matter how much he wanted to. Freed's family had been one of the biggest question marks about him, nobody knew anything about them. Laxus hadn't known if Freed even knew them. "He was?"

"Yes, I used to work in his shop sometimes," Freed continued working, sliding a white tulip into a vase. "Not often, and not for pay of course; I was nine when he was killed. But he sometimes let me help get the flowers he wanted. It was probably to stop me from asking questions about what he was doing - I had no filter as a child, you see, and apparently could talk a mile a minute - but I enjoyed it all the same," he stopped moving, looking at a bare point on the table. "He was a good man, it's a shame I never got the chance to know him."

"I…" Laxus started to say, but didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry."

"Yes, well, things happen," Freed mused. "They couldn't find my mother after his death, which I suppose is the point of leaving a baby on a man's doorstep. I was made a ward of the state, flittered around orphanages until I was sixteen then joined the Rune Knights. That was bad, but short lived. Then, I found Fairy Tail, so I suppose it all ends well."

Laxus placed a hand on his shoulder, just for a moment. "You okay?"

"Yes. I suppose I'm just a little morose when I think of him, my apologies," Freed assured him. "Have you ever been given flowers, or sent them out?"

"No, to both," Laxus removed his hands, giving Freed a lingering look before walking back to the food. "The two times I've been with someone, I guess they didn't see me as the type of guy who needs to be treated like that. And I was always kinda weird about sending flowers, didn't wanna get it wrong. There's this language they have, right? Didn't wanna accidentally tell a guy I liked that I thought he had a small dick and didn't know how to use it, or something."

"Okay, which of those things do you want to discuss first? Because, as a language expert with a family heritage in flowers, I have opinions on the so-called language of flowers," Freed said, placing down his secateurs. "But I feel like we should focus on the fact you just, perhaps unintentionally, came out to me."

Fuck, he had, hadn't he? "Well, I know you're not a bigot, and I know you've fucked men so if you had problems with he liking guys then you'd be a hypocrite, so maybe we brush past it and you rant about flowers."

"Wonderful," Freed smiled. "The idea that flowers have language is absolutely absurd, and a way for disingenuous hacks to overcharge for their services."

Freed didn't stop his rant for the next ten minutes, and Laxus had to sit back and laugh when Freed began to explain the nature of the concept of language, and how character based information could not be passed with such a small pool of participants. When he picked up a potted sunflower, waved it in Laxus' face, and demanded what letter it was, Laxus let out an undignified snort of laughter that made his cheeks red.

Suitably kowtowed, Laxus got to work plating their dinner. Freed continued on with his work, snipping at plants and quietly humming as he did so. Laxus pulled out his music Lacrima and started to play the song Freed had been humming, catching the flash of a smile on Freed's face in the reflection of the window.

They ate together, and Freed didn't once stop working. Once Laxus' plate was emptied, he reached over for a note written in Mirajane's handwriting, quickly reading it over. He put it down and frowned.

"This has to be done by tomorrow morning?" He demanded. "Valentines is a week away."

"Apparently the surprise of them being gifted earlier will make it more romantic, and will give the recipients time to figure red out who they were from so they can do something on the day itself, should they wish to," Freed explained as he wrapped up another vase. "It's stressful, though I suppose I understand it."

"And Mira hadn't done any of them before she got sick."

"Well, she had," Freed looked slightly guilty. "I have higher standards than she."

"Of course you do," Laxus smiled to himself, then pulled an empty vase over to himself. "What do I need to do?"

"Oh you really don't need to-"

"Just fucking tell me."

Freed reached for a stack of small pink cards, rifled through them and handed one to Laxus. 'To Natsu, From Gray'. Laxus huffed; fucking finally one of them was going to make a move. It'd been fifteen years since their weird obsession had begun with each other, and it was starting to get on the guild's collective nerves.

"I thought you could fill it with any pale blue, white, silver and grey flowers you could find, and place a fire lilie in the centre," He motioned for the lilie as he mentioned it. "It's hardly subtle, but given how the two of them are, I think they can do with all the help they can get."

Laxus got to work, finding as many of the correctly colours flowers as he could and placing them in the vase. Quickly, he realised that he didn't know what he was doing, but he knew when he hadn't gotten it right. After blunt forcing his way through it, he eventually settled on an arrangement he was happy with, and carefully slid the lilie into the centre. It gave the composition a shot of colour that seemed to bring it to life, and Laxus found himself oddly proud of himself.

When he turned to ask Freed what he needed next, he found the other man looking at him almost softly. He squirmed slightly in his seat, frowned and asked a blunt, "What?"

"Nothing," Freed dismissed. "Just, I've enjoyed living with you. That's all."

"Yeah," Laxus nodded, taken aback by the confession. "Me too. Er, who's next."

"Well, we've got 'To Evergreen From Elfman', and 'To Elfman From Evergreen', so we could take one each," Freed suggested, and Laxus nodded.

They made somewhat quick work of the rest of the requests, with Freed taking point on themes, colours and arrangements, while Laxus did as he was told. The music playing through the Lacrima gave a gentle, soft feeling to the proceedings as, one by one, the vases were filled and wrapped. The surfaces became bare of their flowers and Laxus got to tidying up.

It was near midnight by the time the apartment was back to it's normal, crappy yet useable state. The smell of the flowers were pleasant enough, and almost made it feel homely. Or maybe that was Freed. Pretty much every good thing in this place had come Freed…

"Laxus," Freed cut through his thoughts. Laxus turned to him, to find a single yellow rose being offered to him. "Since apparently we're being vulnerable today, you should have this."

"What?" Laxus asked, looking down at the rose. He tentatively took it, and he knew his cheeks were exploding with red.

"Just, I want you to know that, despite what your past partners might have made you feel, you are fully deserving of getting flowers," He looked away, then smiled. "Goodnight, Laxus."

He retreated to the bedroom, shut the door and left Laxus alone with the most beautiful flower he had ever seen. He twirled it around, running his fingers up and down the rough and spiky stem. He then looked around the apartment. It should be a tiny, crappy, hell hole. That was how he saw it when they first moved in. They only had one bed, and barely enough space for a damn armchair. It was a horrid little place, and yet Laxus had only fond memories for it,

Freed had done that. Freed, and his cooking. Freed, and the shelf he'd made that housed all the little crochet dolls he crafted. Freed, and his fluid movements he performed when he thought Laxus wasn't looking. Freed, and his flowers. Freed, and his openness and his life and his damn smile.

It happened before he could stop it. This hadn't happened for years. Not when he had been kicked from the guild. Not when they'd welcomed him home. Not when he had accepted his death on the island.

Laxus sobbed.

A throaty, quiet cry, devoid of reason, split through him.

The tears started to fall before he could stop them.

He couldn't stop them, nor explain them, but he felt them in his soul.

He felt Freed in his soul.

[changbinisms]

Two Sides of the Same Coin - Choi Jongho x reader

Summary: Jongho had always been an enigma, holding most people at an arm's length, and you even further. What if there's a reason behind that?

wc: 1,797

non-idol au / office worker au

contains: minor angst?, jealousy, confusion over feelings, y/n is in denial, probably out of character Jongho, implications of alcohol, not proof read

[a/n: it's been a long, long time since I've posted a fic, and even longer since I wrote one, so I'm a little rusty. I'm not 100% happy with it but if I went back and reread it I'd probably talk myself out of it, so hopefully someone enjoys this.]

Few people had the pleasure of being in the company of Choi Jongho, and even fewer had the pleasure of having him enjoy the company too.

He always held the same stony-faced expression on his face, unless of course, he was in the company of his friend group. Then he could always be seen with a smile on his face, laughter leaving his plump lips, and his round eyes crinkled in delight.

That’s not to say that he was stuck up or rude, he just felt most comfortable around his friends, rather than the people that he only really saw in passing.

Unfortunately, you seemed to be stuck in some limbo in between. Not a stranger yet not quite a friend. You got on well with the rest of the group, some could say that you were friends. However, Jongho always seemed to hold you at an arm’s length. Which was a shame really since you had been quite enamoured with the man since you had started working at Aurora & Co. Media.

When it came to interacting with you, he always seemed to go quieter and developed a habit of mumbling. Some could say he had a crush on you but who could be sure? You hadn’t had enough interactions with him to know what he was like around people that he’d taken a fancy to, hell, you didn’t even know if he was interested in people at all. 

~~~~

The day seemed to drag in, almost as if it knew that you longed for the comfort of your cosy little flat, and the series that you had halfway binged into the early hours of the morning.

Staring at the clock in hopes of it making time pass faster clearly wasn’t cutting it anymore. Your day was almost done, and you’d ran out of work to do to fill in the gap between the start of your shift and the end of your shift.

Almost like a knight in shining armour, your view of the clock is obscured by Hongjoong’s lithe frame.

“Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I can count on you to turn up to the Halloween party, right?” his eyes almost pleading with you “half of the guys can’t give a straight answer on if they’re going, Hwa said he’s not going after the chaos at the last work party, and San and Wooyoung are going to be insufferable on their own,”

“Joong,” you chuckled at his distress, “you know I would never let you suffer through those two on your own,”

He physically relaxed at your answer, before a cheeky smile crept its way onto his face; “good - because Jongho is actually going to this one,”

And there it was… the “some” that could say he had a crush on you. Maybe Hongjoong had more of an insight into Jongho’s thoughts and feelings since he was in his inner circle, but you couldn’t quite work out what he stood to gain from telling you about a crush that may or may not even exist.

You let out a sigh.

“Hongjo-“

“don’t even try to hide that you’re happy about that, y/n” he cut you off, “we can all see the hearteyes you send him,”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, you fiend,” you hiss back, taking another peek at the clock, “oh would you look at that! My shift’s over! Bye!”

You quickly grab your phone, bag, and cardigan, and head to the cloakroom to collect your jacket and escape this conversation.

Unfortunately Hongjoong follows you, seemingly undeterred by your efforts to elude him.

~~~~

Despite your insistence that you were indifferent to the news that Jongho would be there, you found yourself panic-shopping online to find something that would somehow be both attractive and comfortable – there’s no way you can wear the pink, fluffy bunny costume you wore the year before, which was the product of an ill timed, dumb bet that you lost.

If anyone were to asl, you’d just tell them you were trying to rebuild your costume reputation. No one would know that it was actually an attempt to look good in front of Jongho.

Not that you wanted to look good in front of Jongho of course…

~~~~

Before you knew it, the end of October was upon you and you found yourself in the back seat of a taxi, wedged in between a (slightly) giddy San, and a (most definitely) tipsy Wooyoung on your way to the venue that your team leads at Aurora & Co. had booked for the party.

You prayed to whatever deity was out there to speed up the journey as there was only so much elbowing you could take from them (“oh come on! You totally imagine what it’s like to kiss him” “We finally won’t have to witness you both pining over each other anymore”) while Hongjoong sat in the front trying to contain his giggles.

Promise be damned, you were abandoning him at the first chance you get.

~~~~

Finally arriving at the venue, practically shoving San out the way to get out the taxi, you make your way into the venue, taking in the sight before you.

Twinkle lights adorned the high ceilings and gave the room a subtle ambience. True to typical fashion, your eyes immediately find Jongho, who had come dressed as a vampire complete with shirt, waistcoat, suit trousers and a typical gothic cape, with what you would assume to be droplets of fake blood trailing down his chin and almost trailing onto his neck.

Almost has if he could sense that you had arrived, he was already looking at you or, most likely, in your general direction (you did arrive with three out of seven of his friends), his conversation with Yeosang, the (at first) quiet man with a cheeky streak, seemingly forgotten.

The intensity of his stare proved too much for you, quickly averting your eyes with a light blush making its way across your cheeks.

Thankfully, you’re saved by your absolute favourite people to work with: Jeon Soyeon and, her equally devilish partner in crime, Kim Seungmin. Most people would assume that their personalites would clash, what with Soyeon having little time for shit-stirrers and Seungmin being the biggest shit-stirrer in the office, but it came as a surprise when they met and struck up what is possibly the funniest friend duo.

“Well look who decided to show up actually looking decent this Halloween!” Seungmin laughed, smile stretching across his face exposing his pearly whites. Beside him, Soyeon tittered and affectionately rolled her eyes. You wonder just how many times she had heard him say similar things before you arrived.

“Minnie, you know fine well that I rocked that bunny suit,” you fired back “much better than whatever the hell you’re wearing right now”.

~~~~

True to office fashion, the party only took off from there. You had long since lost track of Hongjoong, San and Wooyoung, and more importantly, Jongho. You didn’t need the ribbing that you would get from your friends for so much as glancing anywhere he was stood.

Coming out from the restroom, the drinks that you’d had finally taking a toll on your bladder and took advantage of the large mirrors to touch up your appearance, you turn down the hall to head back to the main room and bump into someone. A someone sporting suit trousers, waistcoat and typically gothic cape…

“Jongho… hey!” you awkwardly state, “glad to see you came, I thought it was just rumours that you were coming,”

He seemed to not know what to reply with as he looked at you, mouth slightly agape. You suppose that’s on brand for him, at least he’s looking you in the eye.

“uhhh… anyway,” you sidestep around him, the awkwardness starting to seep into your bones “I was just on my way back, I’ll see you in there, I guess,”

You go to continue your walk back to the festivities when a hand around your forearm stops you in your tracks.

“wait,” he breathes out before continue, “I wanted to talk to you,”

“sure… what do you want to talk to me about?”

“I-“ he started.

You waited for him to continue but the silence only extended into even more awkward territory, the minutes stretching on and on. Feeling the need to get out of the situation before you started spewing absolute nonsense in an attempt to fill the gap.

You step away from him with a quiet “Soyeon and Seungmin must be wondering where I am, I’ll catch you la-“

Your words are interrupted with a short “what do I need to do to get your attention?” You’re stunned into silence, which Jongho takes advantage of by continuing, “Why does everyone in the office get your attention easily, but you can’t give me a sideways glance? What do I have to do? What do I have to do to get you to like me?”

His short monologue must have caused your brain to short circuit, the words with a hint of jealousy must have flipped some switch in your brain, as you responded with an “is that what you think? You think I don’t like you? If anything, I thought you didn’t like me, you very rarely actually look at me never mind talk to me,”

Jongho seemed perplexed at your words before letting out a “because I can’t. I can’t look at you without getting my words and thoughts all mixed up. I thought if I had a drink or two, I might have been able to work up the courage to talk to you and I messed that up,”

You didn’t know what to say, would anyone know what to say in this situation if they were put on the stop this way? You couldn’t organise your thoughts, your brain processing both nothing and everything at the same time.

So, you did the only thing you could make out in the chaos of your brain. You stepped closer to him and placed your hands lightly on his shoulders and closed the gap.

Your lips pressing to his, relishing in his soft ones. He didn’t respond, his posture stiff causing you to regret your actions. Maybe you misinterpreted what he said, maybe he was wanting closure and nothing else.

Your thoughts finally got the better of you and you start to pulling away, ready to gush excuses and find the nearest exit so you could make your escape and think out how you’re going to get out of this one on Monday, when his body starts to catch up with his brain, and he does something you didn’t think he would.

He kisses you back.

~*~*~*~

[aihoshiino]

what did serina think of goro can you explain their relationship

Gorou and Sarina's relationship is interesting because it's kind of deceptively simple while being unintentionally complicated by the mountains of baggage they were both unintentionally bringing to things. Sarina -> Gorou is pretty straightforward though; as the one person who was by her side when she had nobody else in the world, he was her light and she obviously adored him. DeviousChair on the OnK subreddit also made a really good point a while back that we know that Sarina had issues with memory loss as her tumor progressed and so past a certain point, her strongest and most immediate memories would have been of Gorou caring for her. This does a lot to inform why she latched onto him and Ai with the intensity that she did, imo; past a certain point they were basically the only consistent comforting presences in her life.

The Ichibanboshi no Spica novel was a bit of a miss for me for various reasons but something it did (however accidentally) that I really liked was emphasizing the way that Gorou was basically everything and everyone to her from her POV, just out of emotional necessity: at various points across the story she compares him to a friend, an older brother, her parents (by contrasting him against them) and, of course, as her crush. I think this confused muddying of feelings and not knowing exactly what to make of their relationship rings really true and makes a lot of sense because like... how do you define a relationship like that? Especially since he wasn't her actual doctor, he was just the emotional support middle aged guy who would hang out with her and have nerdy chats LOL. Sarina had nobody so Gorou had to be her everybody.

That said, while this connection is sweet there's also an unfortunate but tbh inevitable angle of codependency as well. Since Gorou is her everything, if he's gone then she has nothing. Spica touches on this briefly but we see it most clearly in Ruby at the end of the Private arc and going into Mainstay. Even in a life where all of her dreams have come true, where she has a caring and present family and a robust support system of people who love her, she has so many hopes and so much of her emotional well-being riding on the *idea* of Gorou that being faced with a permanent separation from him contributes to a mental health spiral so catastrophic that only Gorou himself seemingly returning to her can hit pause on it.

It probably goes without saying, but this is an insanely unhealthy level of attachment to have to someone! Obviously, everything to do with Aqua and Ruby's mental health is complicated by their unique circumstances and their losing Ai at such a young age but again: this is Ruby 16+ years out from last seeing him, who has grown up surrounded by people who love and support her and her mental wellbeing is still this dependent on the idea of Gorou and she's still convincing herself that she can have her end goal of being in a relationship with him.

@aquahater made a really excellent post touching on this angle of Ruby's clinging onto the idea of Gorou, characterizing it (imo, correctly) as Ruby basically just wanting to live her life as 'Sarina 2.0' and rejecting any changes or emotionally inconvenient truths that could prevent that from happening. It's totally understandable why she would want this and I can't even say I blame her for it... but she does need to accept that it isn't going to work out the way she so obviously hopes it is.